57 Days
by Ginger James
Summary: The WWE Network has a new reality show and Seth Rollins is its reluctant star. Elle Riley is a struggling actress who finds herself in need of a quick payday. When Stephanie McMahon decides to create a Bachelor style show with a WWE twist, she sets Seth and Elle on a path that takes 57 days to figure out just how crazy this idea really is.
1. The Hard Pitch

**So this idea came to me when I was extremely sick, stuck at home, and binge watched a bunch of terrible reality TV shows. I hope you all like it as I have been having a lot of fun writing it. I've decided to use ring names only for the sake of my sanity so I don't have to switch back and forth. This doesn't mean Strange Bedfellows or Between Friends are on hold. I just needed something a little lighter hearted to divert my attention to sometimes.**

 **The usual disclaimer: I only own my OCs (Elle, Daisy, and any side characters I use) and there will be profanity and potentially sexual situations at some point.**

 **Read, Enjoy, and Review!**

* * *

Seth Rollins was not generally a nervous man. Some called him cocky and that was probably true but he rarely had reason to worry. Still, as he wheeled his suitcase behind him, weaving through the hallways in the back of the Target Center in Minneapolis, he was struggling with a strange sense of apprehension. He was trying to fight it but so far, he was failing pretty miserably. He was supposed to be enjoying a rare day without an appearance before Raw but instead, he'd gotten a call telling him he needed to come in early for a meeting. He had no idea what it was about, just that his presence was required and none of his friends had been asked to come. He knew he couldn't be in any trouble. He'd been on fire since he got back from his injury.

Well...Except for the Balor thing.

Injuring Finn Balor on the night of his big Universal Championship win had not been Seth's finest moment. He felt bad about it but he clearly hadn't done it on purpose. Besides, he'd already been lectured about that. He was out of the woods where that was concerned. The only one still harping on it was fucking Bret Hart. He should've never said anything about Bret's previous comments hurting his feelings on Jericho's podcast. The old man had only doubled down on insulting him after that and try as he might, Seth couldn't help but get pissed off.

He shook away thoughts of the old man, following behind Hunter's new assistant, a pretty, petite blonde named Carrie who was wearing a criminally tight skirt. He could do nothing but stare though. Hunter had already told him in no uncertain terms that he was not allowed to go there. Apparently Carrie was great at her job and Seth had sort of ruined things with Hunter's last assistant, Sophie. He wasn't specifically targeting his boss's assistants, it just so happened that the Game had good taste.

When they reached a conference room, she knocked lightly before pushing the door open for him. He flashed her a smile and she blushed, nodding for him to head inside. He thanked her, promising to see her later and then walked inside. He found Stephanie, Hunter, Shane, Brian Terwilliger – a WWE Network exec. He had no idea why they would call him in for a meeting with Brian. He hadn't done anything for the network since his WWE24 episode.

"Seth," Stephanie was the first to come over to him, smiling excitedly. "We're so glad you could make it."

"It didn't seem like I had much choice," he joked, accepting the side hug she offered. He shook hands with everyone else in the room.

"How was your flight this morning?" Shane asked.

"Good, good," Seth nodded. "I slept the whole way."

He knew Shane didn't actually give a shit how his flight was. This was going to be a weird meeting.

"Have a seat," Hunter nodded to the only empty chair and Seth followed the instruction. He could feel every set of eyes in the room on him and he suddenly felt very unsure of what to do with his hands. He put his palms down flat on his thighs and leaned back in his chair, trying to look relaxed, "So…anybody want to tell me why I'm here?"

Stephanie and Hunter looked at each other and Stephanie smiled, "I'll do it. I've been looking forward to this all day."

Seth couldn't hide his surprise when he looked at her. Stephanie wasn't normally so boisterous.

"You're here because we've come up with a revolutionary idea, something we've never done before; a way to bring a whole new audience to our product. And _you_ are going to be involved."

Seth smirked, "Okay, I'm definitely intrigued. What is it?"

* * *

"Elle! Table fourteen just got their food!"

"Thanks May," Eleanor Riley called out, holding a tray high above her head as she squeezed between two other servers. Her hopes of being cut early for the night were completely shot. After a slow early evening, the restaurant had been flooded with patrons and all of a sudden, every table was filled and they had a 2 hour wait. On a Tuesday.

It probably had something to do with the restaurant being featured in the issue of US Weekly that came out that day. _Porte Noire_ was the hottest new restaurant owned by executive chef Marc Robbins and his socialite wife Poppy. The concept involved something about passing through a black door into a sinful and decadent world unimaginable to those outside it. There was more to it but Eleanor hadn't been giving Poppy her full attention when she told her they wanted to transfer her from their most successful venture, _Repas Parfait_ , to the new business. Everything that Marc and Poppy touched turned to gold so she had no problem switching from one of their restaurants to another. A check was a check. She did, however, wish that their uniforms had a little more fabric. Each server had 4 different 'uniforms' that they could rotate as they preferred. Every one of them was black and either super short, skin tight, low cut, or all of the above. Elle had been too lazy to do laundry the last couple of days so she was stuck wearing the shortest one. She wasn't actually a conservative person but the seating in the restaurant was set low and she felt like everyone was looking up her skirt. She felt like she had a hand on the hem of her dress all night, making sure her ass wasn't hanging out.

Several hours and plenty of tables later, Elle helped close the restaurant before calling an Uber. The new bartender, Owen, offered her a ride but she turned it down. He didn't look up from her cleavage once while they were talking. She was almost positive that he'd never actually seen her face. When she got home, she quickly shimmied out of her uniform, peeled off her lashes and washed off her makeup. She pulled on a pair of shorts and twisted her hair up into a bun as she walked back to the kitchen. Her stomach was making incredibly aggressive noises, reminding her that she'd brought home her favorite dish from the restaurant, poulet a la provencale. Unfortunately for her, when she reached the kitchen, she was startled to find Ethan, her live in boyfriend, standing at the kitchen counter, halfway through her dinner. He must have come in while she had the water running.

"Hey babe," he greeted her warmly, pulling her into a hug, inadvertently rubbing sauce onto her back. "This is amazing."

"I'm aware," she glared at him, putting the top back on her to-go container and sliding it away from him. "I was planning on eating it alone. I thought you were working tonight."

Ethan, a Fresno native, moved to LA to work as a model but when jobs were scarce, he moonlit as a bartender. Recently, jobs had been more than scarce. He hadn't been able to pay his half of rent and utilities and Elle was forced to pick up the slack.

"They cut me early," he explained, tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ear and kissing her forehead. "We were dead and there were 4 of us behind the bar."

She had a sneaking suspicion that he'd volunteered to be the one to leave. Ethan worked when he had to but he made no secret of how much he hated it. She didn't bother bringing it up, though. Nothing could be done about it now.

"I hope you made good tips tonight," he kissed her lips. "Because I got nothin'."

"I find it ridiculous that someone who looks like you has such a hard time making tips," she patted him on the cheek. He truly was the most attractive man she'd ever seen up close. He had piercing, pale blue eyes and thick, silky chocolate brown hair that he kept cut close on the sides and longer and tousled at the top. He was tall, just over six feet with a lean, muscular swimmer's build and a perfectly chiseled jaw. He turned heads everywhere he went. If he had more of a work ethic he could be making millions but, as he was, he could barely be trusted to show up to his castings on time.

"It is pretty ridiculous, isn't it?" he smirked.

She turned on the oven to heat up her food, shaking her head, "Well, _I_ made good money tonight."

"Beautiful _and_ successful," he moved behind her, wrapping his arm around her stomach, placing a kiss to her shoulder. "I don't know what I would do without you."

 _Successful_.

That was the last word Elle would use to describe herself. She went to auditions every chance she got and yet the last role she'd booked was 'Slutty College Girl #3' two months earlier.

"You would starve," she laughed, sliding out of his grasp. "I'm gonna go to bed once I eat. I'm exhausted. It's been the longest day."

"Well that sucks," he sighed, running a hand through his dark hair. "I was hoping you'd come out with me and Sully tonight. Some girl he knows has a table at 1 Oak."

Elle considered it momentarily. 1 Oak would mean taking a shower, picking out the perfect dress, doing her makeup _and_ wearing heels all night.

"Nope," she shook her head emphatically. "I'm good here. But you go, have fun."

"It won't be as fun without you," he smiled. "But I will try."

Elle tossed her food into the oven, "You'll find a way. I have faith in you."

He flashed his brilliant smile and she completely forgot about him eating half of her delicious dinner. It was just unfair to be so good looking.

"Listen, Pete spotted me last time and I owe him. You think I could borrow some of that tip money you got tonight, sugar momma?"

She sighed, walking over to her purse and pulling out all of the cash. She took off some bills and pulled him forward by his belt, sliding the cash into his pocket.

"I'll earn that later," he smirked. "I promise."

* * *

"Wait…they want you to do _what_?" Roman asked.

"So you're gonna be The Bachelor?" was Dean's first question.

"This is amazing," Renee laughed, clapping her hands together.

Seth sighed, running a hand over his face. The four of them were sitting together in the Minneapolis/St. Paul airport, eating and waiting for their flight to South Carolina to begin boarding. He'd just explained the show proposal to his friends and he was beginning to wish he had waited. Dean and Renee both seemed incredibly amused by the whole idea. Roman's expression was more incredulous.

"No, I'm not the Bachelor, Dean," Seth glared. "But it's the same basic concept. It's the dumbest idea I've ever heard."

"Why exactly is this happening?" Roman questioned.

"Apparently it was Stephanie's idea," Seth sighed. "And Vince likes it. They think it'll attract more female viewers."

"As a woman, I find that offensive," Renee spoke up, unwrapping her sandwich. "Women aren't automatically going to tune in to see a bunch of other women fight over a man."

"Thank you," Seth pointed.

"But as your friend, I think this is _hilarious_ and I _really_ hope it happens," she admitted, taking a huge bite to stifle her laughter.

"That's very helpful Renee," Seth rolled his eyes. She and Dean were perfect for each other. They both enjoyed laughing at the plight of others. Seth couldn't judge though. If he wasn't the one in this predicament, he would have been right there with them.

"So you're screwed?" Dean smirked. "I mean, if Vince and Steph are behind it. There's no way out for you."

"I'm not a slave," Seth insisted. "They can't _force_ me to do it. I have free will."

"Do you though?" Roman raised an eyebrow. "I mean, there's a lot of shit that we don't want to do. We all do it because Vince says so. That's how this company works, remember?"

"The man has a point," Dean agreed, reaching over and pinching Roman's cheek, flinching when the Samoan slapped his hand away.

"I don't understand why it has to be me," Seth shook his head, leaning back in his seat. This just seemed like such a silly idea and he couldn't understand why they wanted him, the future of the company, to be at the forefront. It didn't make sense.

"Well out of the three of us, you're the only one that's single," Roman reminded him.

"What about Ziggler?" Seth asked. "This cheesy shit seems like it would be right up his alley."

"Isn't he with Dana now?" Renee asked.

"You're a bigger draw," Dean shrugged. "I wonder if you get to do that thing where the guy pins the roses on the girls."

"I'm _not_ The Bachelor," Seth sighed, leaning his head back.

"I don't know Rollins, it kinda sounds to me like you're The Bachelor," Dean disagreed. "I wonder what they'll call it."

"In Love with the Architect?" Renee suggested.

"The Man Finds The One?" Dean chuckled.

"I hate you," Seth closed his eyes.

"Oh come on now," Dean kept going. "You're not even the least bit excited to _curb stomp_ some hearts?"

"I hope all of these girls have the right _pedigree_ ," Renee added.

"I don't even know why I hang out with you two."

"You _had_ to know I was gonna laugh at you for this," Dean chuckled. "This should be the exact reaction you expected."

"He does have a point," Roman agreed. "You know he's not an emotionally supportive person."

"Aww, that's not true," Renee defended her man, patting him on the head.

"Thanks babe," he leaned into the head rubbing.

"So, are you gonna save yourself the trouble and do it willingly or what?"

"It doesn't seem like I have much choice," Seth shrugged.

"Well, at least you'll get to meet some good looking women," Roman shrugged. "Can't be mad at that."

"Have you ever seen one of those shows?" Seth laughed. "There's usually only a handful of hot ones."

"Well then you meet a handful of hot girls," Roman shrugged again. "Who knows? Maybe you'll even like one of them."

"Oh, here he goes," Dean shook his head.

Seth sighed, "Don't make this weird Rome."

"What are you guys talking about?" Roman asked, confused.

Seth didn't have to look at Dean to know that they were thinking the same thing. Roman was a hopeless romantic. He wouldn't admit it but it was absolutely true. He spoiled his wife like no one Seth had ever seen. He had flowers sent to her once a week and was always sending her these sappy text messages. He was the type of guy that did things like plan scavenger hunts and picnics. More than once, Seth had heard him arranging a trail of rose petals to be put in his hotel room when she was traveling with him. He was almost sickeningly happy and in love and he wanted everyone else to have what he had. Since Dean had Renee, he was mostly safe from Roman's 'advice' but Seth didn't get a reprieve.

"You know how you are," Seth didn't bother to explain it. " _If_ I do this thing, I'm not actually looking to get anything out of it. I don't want to get mixed up with the type of woman who goes on a reality show looking for a man."

Roman smirked, "You never know where you're gonna find the right one."

* * *

 _1 Week Later…_

Over the course of her life, Eleanor had been awakened in ways she didn't like plenty of times but nothing was more unpleasant than Ethan clubbing her on the side of her head in his sleep. She knew he didn't mean to do it but he'd hit her so hard she was tempted to hit him right back. She got out of the bed, though, because the smell of whiskey and sweat was coming off of him in waves and it was extremely unattractive. She took a long shower, washing and conditioning her hair before getting out and checking her face for a bruise. Thankfully, her cheek was clear. She wrapped her thick hair in a towel and put on her short, purple terry cloth robe, stepping into her matching slippers. When she left the bathroom, she peeked in on Ethan. He was still sound asleep, snoring now, with her pillow balled up under his chin. He was kind of adorable when he slept, even if he smelled gross. She sighed, traipsing off to the kitchen to make herself something to eat. They were low on groceries but she was able to throw together some kale, a bag of sweet potato cubes, and eggs. She grabbed her bowl, a bottle of water, and her laptop and headed to the couch, turning on the TV.

She kept the TV on for noise but her attention was focused firmly on her computer. She went through her usual morning routine, opening up several different tabs. Backstage, LACasting, Project Casting, and Actors Access. Then, she methodically sifted through all of the most recent postings. Despite the fact that she spent almost all of her time in restaurants as of late, Eleanor Riley was an actress…an aspiring actress at least. She hadn't booked any work in about a month because she'd had to pick up so many shifts to keep the rent and bills paid. She had moved to LA right out of high school, determined to become an overnight success story. She had no idea what a cliché she would turn out to be. She had the same story as so many others in LA: Born and raised in a small-ish town, her mom decided that she was the most beautiful baby ever born and put her in a modeling contest. She ended up booking a bunch of commercials and even had a tiny part in a movie as a kid. As she got older, she became something of a local star. She was the cheer captain, sang in every singing group in school and entered every talent show. She starred in every single play and musical from 7th grade to senior year. She even dated a star athlete, Chase, who was the best baseball player in the state. They were voted most likely to succeed and, despite her family's reservations, she made the decision to move to LA. She quickly booked a part on a recurring role on a soap opera, plus 4 commercials back to back, and thought she was on her way to success. Then, a few months later, she was released from the soap opera contract and all of her opportunities seemed to dry up. Chase was drafted by the Blue Jays and promptly broke up with her which sent her into a pretty rough spiral of partying and drinking, spending most of the money she'd saved up. When she finally got over it, she got back to work, started waiting tables and auditioning every chance she got. Now, at 24, she'd had two more recurring soap stints; both playing promiscuous college girls. She'd played 'sexy' everything really; babysitter, college girl, yoga teacher _and_ student, waitress, cashier, you name it. Something about her really said 'slutty' to casting directors, no matter what she tried to do to combat it. She also played a stripper twice. She didn't mind being described as sexy in her personal life but being type cast as the sexy girl didn't mean anything good for her career if she wanted to be taken seriously. She'd done commercial work, a bunch of modeling, music videos, and two plays that she was actually pretty proud of despite the fact that no one saw them. Her most recent offers had been for The Bad Girls Club and Vanderpump Rules and she turned both of those down. She didn't have any interest in trashy reality shows. Working on them. She definitely watched a few but she wasn't about to join the cast.

She'd never made enough to quit waiting tables and now she wasn't even making enough from it to take a few days off from the restaurant. Fortunately, Poppy liked her enough to let her come in late or leave early for auditions from time to time. And when she worked nights, she had most of the day available for casting calls or acting classes. She heard her phone ping and picked it up, seeing that she had an email from a casting agent that she wasn't signed with but he threw her and some friends a bone here and there. There was a commercial audition he thought she had a chance to book. It was across town and she only had two hours to get there. He was sending an email with the sides. She quickly wolfed down the rest of her breakfast, tossed her laptop aside and rushed into the bedroom. She would call an Uber and read the sides on the way. She really hoped whatever this was for had an actual character name and not just a description. Fingers crossed, she slipped past her sleeping boyfriend and started rifling through her closet for something good to wear.

* * *

Seth stood with his arms crossed, staring at the monitor in front of him. One of the production assistants had asked him to meet Hunter but, of course, Hunter was caught up with something so Seth was left waiting. The Superstars taping was just finishing up and Seth was in the opening segment of Raw so he hoped whatever Hunter wanted wouldn't take long.

"Sorry about that. Minor crisis," Hunter approached, clapping a hand on his shoulder. "This won't take long."

"Okay," Seth said, keeping his arms crossed. He had a feeling he knew what this was going to be about.

"I want to talk to you about the show," Hunter said.

"Tonight's show?" Seth hoped.

"The other show," Hunter laughed. "I think you know what I mean."

"I can't do it Hunter," Seth shook his head. He'd taken some time to think about it and he still hated the idea. "I'm sorry, I know Steph's excited about it but this idea is ridiculous. You can't tell me you don't see that."

"What exactly is it that puts you off about it?" Hunter asked. He was in 'Dad' mode, Seth could see it. There were several different versions of Hunter that one could encounter, dependent on the situation. This version was understanding and encouraging and could convince talent to go along with plans that they weren't exactly fond of. He was a convincing son of a bitch which was certainly why Stephanie and the network sent him to talk to Seth.

"I don't want to be a joke," Seth answered. "You've put this company on my back. You've told me I'm the future. I'm ' _the man_ '. So why would you want me to do something so cheesy?"

"You don't think it could be good for you?" Hunter asked.

"Good for me how?" Seth scoffed. "God, please tell me you haven't been talking to Roman."

"What does Roman have to do with it?" Hunter looked confused and Seth shook his head.

"Never mind. Why would this be good for me?"

"It could help the fans get to know a different side of you," Hunter suggested.

"The fangirls already love me," Seth smirked. "I don't think I need to worry about that."

"Okay, well," Hunter sighed. "It's also worth considering that Stephanie has been your champion through everything. I mean, she backed you through the naked picture situation. And then the issues with Zahra. Sting."

"Sting? You're using Sting against me?" Seth questioned. Hunter knew how horribly he felt about that.

Hunter continued, undeterred, "Balor. The troubling ratings during your title reign."

"You're gonna guilt me now?" Seth asked, eyeing his boss.

"I'm not trying to guilt you," Hunter said. "Just reminding you that Stephanie is a big part of why you got to where you are. That's all."

Seth sighed, clasping his hands behind his head and looking up at the ceiling. There was no getting out of this. Roman was right, with Vince and Stephanie on board there had never really been an option of saying no. The best he could do now was say yes and look like a team player instead of being forced into it.

"Fine, fine," he said through gritted teeth. "I'm in."

Hunter smiled, "I knew you would come around to it."

"Do you manipulate your kids like that?" Seth laughed.

"My kids are harder to manipulate," Hunter chuckled. "You gotta toughen up."

"Thanks a lot."

"In all seriousness," Hunter said. "I can assure you, you won't be a joke. This isn't even the dumbest show we've put on the network. And you're so over at this point that it won't matter."

Seth sighed deeply, "I hope you're right."

* * *

Elle smiled, standing up from the curb when she spotted Daisy's dark blue Prius.

Daisy Jimenez was Elle's best friend in LA. They met 4 years earlier when they were living in the same apartment complex. They became fast friends while doing their laundry together and now Elle didn't know what she would do without her.

"Hey hot stuff," Daisy smiled as Elle got into the car. "How was the audition? Did we get a name this time?"

"Sure, if you consider 'sexy nurse' a name," Elle answered, rolling down her window.

"We could give her a name," Daisy suggested. "A super sexy name like…Desiree."

"That's a good one but it won't be necessary. I don't think I booked it. They didn't put it in the call but I think they wanted a blonde."

"You could do blonde, you did it that one time," Daisy struggled to keep a straight face.

Elle had the genius idea of bleaching her ink black tresses about 2 years earlier when she was stressed and in need of a change. The first round of bleaching turned it orange and when the stylist told her how much more she would have to do to get it to the color she wanted, she freaked out. They couldn't get her hair back to it's natural color that day so Elle had to walk around with blotchy orange hair for a week. She wore a lot of hats.

"How dare you remind me of that?" Elle laughed. "Do you _want_ me to feel worse?"

"Aww, I'm sorry hon," Daisy gave her a sympathetic smile. "You'll get 'em next time."

"You know you don't have to say that to me every time, right?" Elle smirked. "At some point, you can just tell me to give up."

"I would never do that because you shouldn't give up," Daisy reached over, patting her on the arm. She was one of the most positive people that Elle had ever encountered. She was a ray of sunshine packed into a tiny, adorable package. It may have had something to do with the fact that she'd had a steady job for years. She worked for a production company that primarily did reality shows. She was probably the most stable and gainfully employed person that Elle hung out with. Probably had something to do with the fact that she had no desire to be in front of a camera.

"I don't want to talk about me anywhere," Elle put on her sunglasses. "You said you guys are doing a new show. How's that going?"

"It's in the early stages right now," Daisy explained. "We start recruiting and casting next week. I actually came out of my meeting this morning thinking of you."

"Me? Why?"

"Well, I've told you before that a lot of times on shows like this we cast by personality types," Daisy reminded her. "Shy virgin. Girl next door. Diamond in the rough, etcetera, etcetera."

Elle found it creepy that they categorized people that way but that was just how their business worked. "Do you really get any virgins though? Like how often does that happen?"

"Not often but believe it or not, they're not _all_ lying," Daisy answered. "Anyway, we were going over what we want with the showrunner today and we need a villain."

"You think of me as a reality show villain?" Elle feigned offense. "It's because I drink so much wine, isn't it? You know, you are not in a position to judge little missy. You're usually filling up a cart at Trader Joe's right beside me."

"No it's not the wine. You don't even drink Pinot Grigio. I just think you could pull it off," Daisy shrugged, pulling into a parking spot as they reached their destination. A friend of theirs worked the lunch shift at a nearby restaurant and he was hooking them up with a free lunch since his boss was on vacation. Sometimes it seemed like their whole lives were spent trading and bartering. Elle's best currency was her control over the reservation list at Porte Noire. Daisy had tons of connections in the reality TV world. They had a good friend, Stacy, who had her own clothing line and gave Elle clothes in exchange for modeling for her website. They'd developed a decent sized network of friends who helped each other out whenever they could. They greeted their friend Liam and he had them seated with a delicious lunch within 10 minutes.

"You know, I was serious about the show," Daisy offered. "You would be perfect for this kind of thing. You're beautiful. You're quick witted and…"

She seemed to be searching for the right word.

"Bitchy?" Elle suggested. "Were you going to say that I'm bitchy?"

"I was going to say a different 'b' word," Daisy answered. "Broke."

"I am nothing if not broke," Elle agreed. "But what does that have to do with it?"

"Our girls get paid for however many days of filming they do," Daisy explained. "It's a flat fee for appearing on the show and then an extra bonus that's supposed to make up for the lack of normal income. It definitely amounts to more than you make per day at the black door."

Daisy refused to refer to the restaurant by its actual name. She said it made her feel silly.

"You could do it for a few days and come out a little richer, just saying."

"Look, I appreciate that thought," Elle patted her friend on the hand. "But there is no way that's happening."

* * *

"So they're going all out, a bunch of girls moving into a house and vying for your affections?" Sasha Banks questioned, wanting desperately to open her eyes. Seth decided to tell her the news about his new show while she was in the middle of getting her makeup done. She loved him like a brother sometimes but he had absolutely terrible timing. He probably thought her having her makeup done would make her less enthusiastic or keep her from asking questions. He was sorely mistaken. Silly Rollins…She wanted to know _everything_.

"Yep," Seth answered. "The house will be in LA but the girls will have to travel at some point. I got them to agree to filming at least 1 episode at Black and Brave."

"Only you would make sure your wrestling school gets pub on your dating show," Sasha scoffed. Once her eyes were, mercifully, done she was able to open them and look straight at her good friend..

"I gotta get something out of this," he shrugged. "Might as well get more eyes on the school."

"I don't think you even understand how excited I am for this," she smiled. "This is literally my favorite thing that has ever happened."

Seth gave her a dramatic eye roll.

She was unfazed, "I want to be a co-host. Or I can come in as the friend that tells you whether or not the girls are good enough for you. Oh my God, instead of, like, meeting your mom, they could just meet me. This is perfect. You should write this down."

"Alright, calm down," Seth put a hand up. "We already have a host. Graves is doing it. Steph says a bunch of the talent will be making appearances on the show so maybe they'll put you on."

Sasha beamed, "I am going to do everything in my power to make that happen."

"You gonna throw that thing around?" he smirked, pointing down to her Women's Championship belt.

She nodded without a moment's hesitation, "Absolutely."

Her interest in this was three fold. There was sheer amusement which couldn't be denied. Seth was going to be the cheesy suitor on a reality show. She couldn't possibly miss seeing that live and in color. Then, there was the part of her that just liked to be involved in everything. She'd done a bunch of episodes of UpUpDwnDwn. She'd been begging to do Stone Cold's podcast. She just liked to be in the thick of things,. And then there was Seth's love life. It was an absolute disaster and Sasha was beginning to think that she was going to have to find someone for him herself. Now, someone was going to do the hard part and put together a pool of women. All she had to do was help him choose.

"What if you actually meet someone?" she asked excitedly.

"Sash, that isn't gonna happen," he said. "You might as well just give up that ghost now. I'm doing this because I have to."

"I don't know," Sasha gave him a knowing smile. "Sometimes the best time to find someone is when you're not really looking. And married life is pretty bad ass if I do say so myself."

"And I am glad you guys are so happy, I really am," he smirked at her. "But it's not for me right now."


	2. The Unexpected Circumstance

_2 Months Later…_

"Seth Rollins…you're at the top of your game. You're young, successful, and I gotta admit, you're a good looking guy," the news anchor, Rich, smiled at him. "So tell me…why are you trying to find love on a TV show?"

Seth was really getting tired of answering that question. Every promo appearance he did for the last week seemed to revolve around the show because it was set to start filming. He was currently sitting with an older guy who actually seemed to be a big fan and a pretty redhead who had been giving him the eye from the moment she saw him. He laughed and took a drink of his coffee, trying to ignore how bad it tasted, "Well I appreciate all of the compliments. They're all true. And I'll be honest with you, I didn't like the idea at first. I really didn't want to do it. But I've started to warm up to it. I wouldn't exactly say I'm looking for _love_. But..,I'm a busy guy and I don't always get to meet people the way I'd like to. Why not try something new?"

"Well whatever woman you choose is going to be a very lucky lady," the redhead smiled.

"I can probably still get you in if you're lookin' to sign up," Seth smiled at her. He gave her a wink and her cheeks flushed as she turned to the camera and reminded the audience at home to watch Raw that night. When they cut to commercial, Seth was primed to ask what her plans were for the night when Alexander, the WWE Network PR guy who had been assigned to attend all promo with him, came over blocking his way.

"Ready to go?"

"Not exactly," Seth smiled over the shorter man's shoulder. He knew morning news shows didn't have long commercial breaks so he had a limited amount of time to talk to her.

"She already has seats for tonight. You can hit on her then," Alexander informed him. Seth couldn't help but laugh. He hadn't learned much about the other man but he'd quickly realized that Alexander was very blunt. He called it like he saw it. Seth appreciated the honesty and gave him the same respect.

"Fine, then I guess I'm ready to go," Seth shrugged, waving at her as someone came over to touch up her makeup.

"You do remember that you're going to have 50 women competing for you in a week, right?" Alexander questioned.

"That's a whole week from now," Seth smirked. "What am I supposed to do until then?"

"Control yourself?" Alexander shrugged, looking down at his phone as they headed out of the studio. They retrieved their things from the green room and Seth took a few pictures with station employees who asked before they went outside and got into their car.

"So I have some notes from Stephanie and Brian. They listened to the radio interview you did yesterday," Alexander said as the car pulled off.

"Oh good, can't wait to hear them," Seth deadpanned.

"I won't read it word for word but the gist is, you've got to sound more enthusiastic about the show," the network employee explained. "You've gotta stop trying so hard to make it clear that you're not looking for love. You need to look like you can't wait for this to start not that you're dreading it."

"Well maybe I'd show more enthusiasm if I had any idea what these girls are going to be like," Seth shrugged. He'd asked to have a hand in the casting but he was rebuffed. It didn't make sense to him. If he was supposed to like at least some of these girls, why couldn't he help pick them out?

"That's how shows like this work," Alexander explained. "I worked on a few back in the VH1 celebrity dating show heyday. They never let you pick all of the girls. One of the best parts of the show is the suitor's initial reaction to the contestants. Trust me, this thing is going to be heavily produced and you _will_ have a say. They just like to show a little element of realness and surprise in the beginning. It helps to set the tone for the viewers."

"Well if they're going to play things their way. I should get to play things mine."

"Whatever you say Seth," Alexander gave a bored sigh, typing on his phone again.

They rode in silence for a few moments and then Seth looked over at him, "So which dating show did you work on? Rock of Love? Flavor of Love? Something else of Love?"

Alexander smirked, "None of your business."

* * *

Elle yawned deeply, shaking her head hard to snap herself awake. It was 10:00 A.M. and she was on her way to Repas Parfait to work brunch after closing Porte Noire at 2AM, not actually making it home until 3:30. She was dead tired but Poppy called and woke her that morning asking her to come in because they were fully booked for brunch and 2 people called in sick. They were probably just hung over but it didn't matter to Elle. She needed whatever extra money she could get so she'd pulled out her old uniform, jumped in the shower, and borrowed Ethan's car. He was sleeping and didn't have to work so he wouldn't miss it. She would probably be back to change for her dinner shift before he even noticed it was gone. He'd done a photo shoot the day before from some YA novel series and he claimed he was exhausted. Elle wouldn't complain though. At least he'd booked a job. He'd been fired from the bar and hadn't found a new job yet so his modeling was his only income and his agency wasn't sending him out on as many castings because he'd shown up late to a few. She wasn't one to pray but she was close to getting down on her knees and begging whatever higher power willing to listen to keep him from getting dropped. In the last 2 months, their rent had increased _and_ someone had hit the car and driven off while Elle was at an audition, resulting in some pretty expensive damage that Elle had to pay for by herself.

She pulled in to the small employee lot behind the restaurant, greeting a few guys she knew from the kitchen staff who were out back having a cigarette. One of them whistled at her when she walked up the back stairs in her skirt and she flipped him the bird before going inside. Poppy swept her up in a hug, profusely thanking her for coming in before promptly leaving the restaurant. There wasn't even a manager in yet. Elle sighed, knowing this was going to be a rough shift. She was glad she'd arrived early. She checked the cutlery and glassware at each table and made sure the rest of the wait staff knew their sections. She helped the hostess seat a few of the tables that showed up early until the other hostess arrived, then she was able to focus on her own section. About a half hour into the service, she got another table, a 6 top, and when she walked out to introduce herself and get drink orders, she was pleasantly surprised to see Daisy. She hadn't seen her friend in almost a month because they were both working so much. They still talked a few times a week but she missed her. She only recognized one of the people with her, Scott, a fellow field producer that Elle met at Daisy's housewarming party a few months earlier.

"Hey!" Daisy jumped up excitedly, pulling her into a big hug when she reached the table. "What are you doing here?"

"Poppy asked me to come in and then fled," Elle made a face. "But now I'm glad I came. I haven't seen you in so long."

"I know. We need to compare schedules and have a wine night. I have so much shit to tell you."

One of the men at the table cleared his throat and Daisy laughed, angling toward them, "Guys, this is my friend, Elle."

Daisy introduced everyone by name and Elle shook hands with a few of them.

"They let us out into the world for the morning and we heard this place has the best brunch in West Hollywood," Jim, the man sitting closest to her, explained.

"We absolutely do," Elle confirmed. It wasn't hyperbole. She could gorge herself on their brunch until she died and she wouldn't be upset about it.

"Elle is the one I was telling you guys about," Daisy explained, plopping back down into her seat.

Elle raised an eyebrow at her friend, "Should I be concerned?"

"This is the bitchy Illinois girl?" Jim smiled excitedly, staring up at Elle.

Elle's eyes widened and she kept her gaze on Daisy, "The _what_ now?"

"This is the _actress_ who could _pull off_ bitchy girl," Daisy corrected, kicking Jim under the table without an ounce of subtlety.

"You were right Daisy, she's really quite beautiful," Amy, one of the other producers, said, staring at Elle like she was hanging in an art gallery.

"I told you guys," Daisy shrugged.

"Okay, ignoring the fact that Daisy thinks I'm a bitch, which we'll discuss later. Why does it matter that I'm from Illinois? I'm very confused right now."

Daisy smacked herself on the forehead.

"She's told you about the new show, right?" Scott asked.

"I have a pretty vague idea of it, yeah," Elle nodded.

"Well we're starting off with one girl from every state. Then our guy is gonna cut more than half on the first day."

"I could _definitely_ see her as our short term villain," Jim nodded.

Elle tried to ignore the fact that now they were _all_ staring at her, "What exactly is a short term villain? It sounds like you just made that up."

"Oh honey, no," Amy shook her head. "You know how a lot of times on these shows, there's a super pretty girl who only lasts a few episodes. She's kind of a bitch but not the absolute bitchiest girl. She usually gets cut because the guy doesn't think she's opening up and none of the other girls like her. That's your short term villain, the one everybody thinks is gonna be the bad guy until the real bad one reveals herself around episode 3 to 5. She's a flash in the pan that gives you great face and great sound bytes for commercial."

"I feel like I'm learning more than I need to know about reality TV right now," Elle laughed.

Most of them were still staring but Elle was able to brush it off. Sometimes when serving a table of industry people, you were constantly being scrutinized. She didn't even think they realized they were doing it.

"Guys, you're all being creepy. Get out of work mode," Daisy said loudly and a few of them quickly looked down at their menus. Jim and Amy kept staring. Elle would have to thank Daisy for this incredible awkwardness later.

"Weren't you on General Hospital?" Amy squinted at her.

"Yeah, a while back," Elle confirmed. She was surprised to be recognized for that job, it had been a while.

"What are you working on now?" Jim asked.

"Getting your brunch order," Elle pulled out her pen, giving him a firm look before turning her smile back on. "Do you want to take a look at the menu for a bit? Or if you'd like, I can put in some items I'd recommend and you can start with those."

"That would be great," Amy and Daisy spoke at the same time.

"Sounds good. I'll put some food in for you and bring out some mimosas. Anything else to drink?"

Scott and Jim ordered bloody mary's and then Elle headed to the POS to enter the order. She was in the process of selecting all of her favorite dishes when she felt her phone buzz in her apron. She had a text from Daisy.

 _I'm sorry they're weird. I swear I didn't call you a bitch._

 _I wouldn't care if you did,_ she quickly typed back. _I can be a bitch._

She went to the bar and put together her own mimosa carafes while one of the bartenders made her bloody's. She put everything together on a tray and made herself a mimosa as well, downing it quickly while she had time. Mimosas were like water to Elle, she needed them to live, especially with some of the tables she had. She dropped off the carafes with Daisy's group and then touched her other tables, putting in a few more orders and refilling some sparkling water. Once the food she put in for her friend was ready, she headed with the bussers out to the table. She would explain each dish as they were placed on the table. As she approached, she heard her name.

"You don't think she would reconsider?" Scott asked.

"Our current Illinois is a total fucking snooze," Amy said.

"Your friend would be perfect," Jim insisted. "She's crazy hot and I can tell by how quickly she turned on me that she's probably a little volatile. It took her less than 30 seconds to despise me."

Elle cleared her throat, smiling as they all turned awkwardly to face her. The bussers started putting the food down and she went through each dish with them.

 _I am so sorry_ , Daisy mouthed to her.

Elle winked at her before turning her attention to the others, "You can stop asking Daisy. I won't be reconsidering. And Jim, you shouldn't sell yourself short. It took me more like 45 seconds to hate you. Please enjoy your meal."

* * *

 _Nashville, TN_

"Renee, where are you planning on putting all of that food?"

Renee looked down at the food in front of her and back up at Roman, shrugging and then patting her stomach. She usually ate in moderation but she had a weakness for Waffle House. She had ordered enough food for the whole table and she was going to eat it all by herself.

"That's my girl," Dean smiled proudly, digging into his own omelet.

She smiled, shoving a large forkful of hash browns in her mouth and chewing obnoxiously in Roman's direction. The Samoan chuckled, shaking his head as he dug into his own food.

Seth returned to the table after a trip to the bathroom looking very confused.

"Something go wrong buddy?" Dean asked.

"Do you guys see that girl?" Seth questioned, briefly glancing at a table toward the door.

They all turned and Renee sighed when she saw the pretty redhead sitting at a table with an older woman, probably her mother.

"She's not a ghost, Seth, we can all see her," Roman answered.

"She's been staring at me since we got here," Seth explained.

"Shouldn't you be used to that by now?" Dean asked. "She's probably just a fan. Let's just appreciate that she's being nice enough to let us eat in peace."

Renee rolled her eyes, waiting for one of them, hopefully Seth, to figure it out.

"She's not looking at me like a fan," Seth frowned. "She looks pissed."

"She does look a little…perturbed," Roman observed.

"That's because you had sex with her and you don't even remember her," Renee blurted.

"What?" Seth stopped before his fork could reach his mouth.

Renee groaned looking up to the ceiling. She recognized the woman as soon as she saw her. The fact that Seth didn't made her want to slap him a little. She loved Seth. He was more than just Dean's friend, she considered him one of _her_ close friends as well. She really believed that he was a good person. But he could also be gross.

"What are you talking about?" Seth asked.

"Why would you remember that?" Dean laughed.

"Remember the last time we were in Nashville and Seth had the room next door to us?" she looked over at Dean. "He met that girl when we all went to Tootsie's and brought her back to the hotel and we ended up throwing shoes at the wall because they were so loud we couldn't sleep."

" _That's_ the girl?" Dean asked, realization finally dawning on him. They barely got any sleep that night. Throwing the shoes only seemed to encourage them to get louder.

"That's the girl," Renee nodded.

"Are you _sure_?" Seth's brow furrowed in confusion. "I thought that girl was blonde."

"Oh my God," Renee propped her elbow on the table and pressed her hand to her forehead. "What is wrong with you?"

"I just don't really remember," Seth shrugged.

"Well I bet she does," Renee said. "And I bet she's pissed because she was probably expecting a call from you and from what I'm seeing right now, I'm gonna guess she never got one. Because you didn't even bother to pay attention to what color her hair was."

"Or maybe she dyed her hair," Seth offered.

"He does have a point there," Roman agreed. "Who's to say it wasn't blonde at the time?"

"It wasn't." Renee sighed. "And even if it was…do you remember her name?"

"Do you, Renee?" Seth challenged. "Do _you_ know that girl's name?"

" _I_ didn't hook up with her," Renee laughed in spite of herself. "You are awful."

"I'm not that bad," Seth insisted. "I will apologize to her on the way out. I promise. I'm not _that_ much of an asshole."

"Good," Renee smiled. She knew that he wasn't. He was more of a relationship guy than he would probably admit. He'd just been on the prowl a little too much after his last breakup. "So, change of subject…I heard that Stephanie was _not pleased_ with you after that last interview."

"She wasn't," Seth shrugged. "Look, I'm doing them a huge favor by agreeing to this stupid show. She can't get upset because I don't want say exactly what she wants me to. The PR guy told me they just want me to give the illusion that I think this is going to lead to something special."

"Maybe it will," Renee shrugged. "I mean, I've watched The Bachelor before. They always get engaged at the end. I mean they usually break up but…they still get engaged."

"She made me watch it with her a few times," Dean said. "Those guys are even less charming than you so you've got a pretty decent chance of tricking one of these girls into falling for you."

"Oh you mean like you tricked Renee?" Seth suggested.

Dean shrugged, "Stockholm Syndrome is a real thing."

"I actually feel a little bad for those girls," Renee said. "They don't know what they're getting into."

* * *

Elle tapped her nails on the table, staring at the account balance on her computer screen. She'd just finished paying bills, hers _and_ Ethan's, and now she was even more broke than she expected to be. She shut the laptop, knowing that staring wasn't going to make more money appear. She headed to the refrigerator, pulling out a bottle of wine. She opened the cabinet to take out a glass but remembered that she'd just finished doing the dishes and she didn't want to create more for herself to do. She would just keep it extra classy and drink straight out of the bottle. Ethan wasn't home, she had no one to impress. She twisted off the top and tossed the it into the garbage. She had no illusions about herself in that moment. She was going to finish the bottle. She took a long drink, stopping when she heard her phone ping. She picked it up, figuring it was a text from Ethan letting her know he was on his way home. Instead, it was an email from Poppy.

 _Hello Porte Noire staff,_

 _After last night's less than stellar service, my lovely but temperamental husband has decided to close for a week to overhaul the kitchen. We're rearranging and bringing tons of new equipment so we won't be able to have service. We will fulfill reservations for the rest of this week and be closed starting Monday. These will be unpaid days. I will try to find shifts for you at Repas Parfait but, as you all know, we are fully staffed there so no guarantees. Shifts following the break will be as they are currently posted. Enjoy the unexpected vacay!_

 _Love, Poppy_

"Are you fucking kidding me?" she asked out loud, staring at her phone.

Unexpected Vacay? Only a person with endless disposable income would think that an unexpected, unpaid vacation was a good thing. This wasn't even the first time they'd done this. Once, Repas Parfait got a bad review, _one_ , and all of the kitchen staff had to go through rigorous testing to keep their jobs because Marc went on the warparth.

A week without pay was going to be way too hard on her pockets, especially with rent due soon. She was going to have to figure out something. Flustered, she twisted her hair up into a bun and then downed more wine. She didn't have any auditions lined up. She could call her parents but that was the absolute last thing she wanted to do. She still hadn't heard the end of the last time they gave her money. She rested her head on the arm of the couch, looking around the room for inspiration. Her phone started ringing and she considered ignoring it until she looked down and saw Daisy's picture.

"Hey," she answered with one hand, picking up her wine bottle with the other. "What's up?"

"I'm sitting here looking at head shots for the girls for this show and they're all starting to look like the same person," Daisy spoke. "I seriously think these 3 girls had to have had a nose job with the exact same doctor."

Elle had almost forgotten that Daisy's new show started filming the next week. A tiny part of her wished that she hadn't been so adamant in saying no before. All of a sudden she found herself with some unwanted free time and a near empty bank account. Work, no matter what it was, would be nice.

"Did you get all your spots filled?" she asked absently, taking another long drink.

"Looks like it," Daisy sounded tired. "I'm looking at alternates too in case someone doesn't show up on Monday. This guy has a pretty tight schedule so we don't have time to lose a day."

"Who's the guy?" Elle asked. "You never actually told me."

"He's a pro-wrestler," Daisy explained. "Seth Rollins. He seems nice enough. I haven't met him in person yet but I've been on a couple of skype calls and he was pretty cool."  
Elle's ex, Chase, was a big wrestling fan when they were kids but she hadn't actually watched any of it in ages. She had no idea who this Seth Rollins person was.

"You have any room for one more?" Elle joked. "Or I could just come to work with you and eat the free craft services."

"Don't joke with me, Elle," Daisy laughed. "I get gullible when I'm tired."

She looked back over at her laptop, the remaining number in her account was still emblazoned in her brain, "Maybe I'm not joking."

" _What_?" Daisy asked. It sounded like she dropped something but Elle couldn't tell what. "Eleanor, what did you just say?"

She flinched at the use of her full first name, "We had a shitty service and Marc freaked out. He's shutting down the restaurant all next week and I don't have anything lined up. So…What exactly would this entail?"

She didn't want to get her friend's hopes up until she had a clearer picture. She put Daisy on speaker while she google image searched Seth Rollins. He came up quickly and Elle was impressed. He was certainly good looking, maybe not her type, not that it mattered.

"Well, on Monday we're doing the first introduction and cuts. There'll be 50 girls. He meets each one for about 60 seconds. Then we're going to cut the field to 20. All 20 remaining girls will move into a huge house we rented in Sherman Oaks. He'll make cuts until he gets to the final 3."

"Sounds intense."

"A little," Daisy said. "But it would get you some exposure. I mean, Emma Stone's career started on a reality show."

Elle was well aware. Daisy loved to use that line when she encountered someone who didn't take her work seriously.

"And it's on a niche network so you don't have to worry about _too_ much exposure. Also, it would be a huge help to me. I need a win in front of my boss this week. Bringing in a perfect girl would get me tons of points."

"I just don't know Daisy," Elle sighed, rubbing her forehead. She knew she brought up the idea but now it just seemed odd.

"It would only be a few days of work," Daisy insisted like a dog on a bone. "You would get through the first cut, go through the motions of moving into the house, then you'd be cut in the next elimination or the one after that. Just a few days' work and you'll get paid for every day you're there. Everybody wins."

"Except Ethan. My boyfriend," Elle reminded her.

"Oh honey, you wouldn't be the first girl to go on one of these shows with a boyfriend," Daisy laughed. "And you're not even trying to win. All you have to do is flirt a few times. It's an acting job. It doesn't count as cheating. You probably flirt harder at the restaurant."

"What are you trying to say Daisy?" Elle joked.

"Elle, if you're serious, you just say the word and I'll bump my Illinois girl to alternate. She'll still get a check for the first day and I'll look good to my bosses for bringing you in. Jim and Amy told our EP about you and he told me to try again but I didn't want to bug you."

Elle stared at the picture of Seth for a moment, trying to decide what to do. On the one hand, this seemed like a cockamamie plan but on the other, she saw her rent being paid on time. Her screen flashed and she closed the google images, opening her texts. She had a new picture message from Ethan. He was at a bar with a bunch of friends around him. They all looked drunk and she could swear she saw bottles of Patron at the table.

She sighed, pinching her bridge of the nose, "I'll do it."


	3. The First Test

**Thank you so much for the follows/favorites for the story so far and a special thank you to those who have reviewed. Please keep the reviews coming! I love hearing what you think. Enjoy!  
**

 _Monday_ …

Elle stared down at her extensive collection of lipstick. One entire drawer in her bathroom was full of lipstick, organized by finish and shade. She had a definite problem but she figured it wasn't drugs so it wasn't something she needed therapy for anytime soon. She just limited herself to how much she could spend on it per month. Most months she even managed to stick to her budget. She couldn't decide which one to wear and it was driving her crazy. She just felt so awkward. It was like she was getting dressed for the world's most public blind date. Fortunately, she hadn't been given the option of stressing over what to wear. All of the women were supposed to wear the same shirt. It was a black t-shirt with 'Seth Freakin' Rollins' on the front. It obviously wasn't something Elle would normally wear but it fit tight and made her boobs look great so she supposed it would work. She paired it with black, high waisted jeans and a pair of black patent leather Ted Baker heels that Daisy got her for her last birthday. She'd perfected the art of the at home Brazilian blow out long ago so her hair looked great but she just couldn't make a decision on the stupid lipstick.

She looked up at herself in the mirror, making a face. Maybe this was a sign. She wasn't normally an indecisive person. Maybe she couldn't finish getting ready because this was actually a ridiculous and terrible idea and she shouldn't be doing it at all. Her phone screen lit and she looked down, reading a text from Daisy saying she would be there to pick her up in 5 minutes. She had to remind herself that this would be quick and painless. She was doing something to help Daisy, who had helped her a thousand times before. She took a deep breath and reached into the drawer, pulling out a dark cherry color she'd just gotten called Black Rose. She quickly put it on, took one last look in the mirror and then grabbed her purse and tossed her phone inside, heading out of the bathroom.

Ethan was lying on the couch, watching Stranger Things on Netflix and eating a bag of kale chips. He barely looked up when she walked out of the room but he did speak, "Hey can you bring me same dish you brought back last week? The one with the duck?"

He was talking about cassoulet but there was no point in clarifying it. She'd already told Ethan twice that she wasn't working at Porte Noire for the next week.

"Not going to the restaurant, remember?" she sighed, picking up her keys from the side table and dropping them into her purse.

"Ah, that's right," he snapped his fingers. He flashed her that beautiful smile, "Sorry babe. Have fun with Daisy. Tell her 'hi' for me."

"Will do," she assured him. "What are you going to do all day?"

"I'm planning on hitting the gym and then I was thinking about going out with Sully, probably hitting up a club."

He was going to go to a club? When she'd just paid his phone bill not 24 hours earlier? Of course he was. Because Ethan had no concept of how money worked.

"Did you call the agency to see if they have any castings for you?" she asked, leaning against the door. He'd promised her the day before that he would.

"Babe, if they have a casting for me, _they're_ gonna call _me_ ," he chuckled. "That's how it works."

"Right," She nodded. "Of course it is. I'll see you later."

"Nice shirt by the way," he called as she opened the door.

"Thanks," she forced a smile. "Daisy gave it to me."

* * *

Seth stood in the ring, waiting while another girl walked down the ramp. They were coming down one by one and introducing themselves. It hadn't been completely terrible so far. Some of the girls had been pretty cute. If nothing else, he would probably get a few hookups out of the deal and he wasn't mad at that. And he couldn't deny the ego boost that came with a bunch of women wearing his shirt and telling him how amazing he was. This one wasn't bad looking but she seemed to be having trouble walking in her heels. They were sky high and she couldn't even move in a straight line. He didn't care if a girl couldn't walk in heels or not but why wear them if you didn't know how to use them? She walked up the ring steps incredibly slowly and Seth resisted the urge to check his watch.

"Hi," he smiled when she finally made her way into the ring.

"Hi," she giggled. She smelled overpoweringly sweet, like cotton candy.

"What's your name?" he asked.

"Jade," she smiled. "It's so great to finally meet you."

"It's great to meet you too," he smiled and reached out, shaking her hand. Her hands were incredibly soft but he could tell right away that the cotton candy smell was going to rub off on him.

She pulled a few pieces of paper out of her pocket, giggling nervously, "I wrote something for you."

"Oh wow," he braced himself. "Okay, let's hear it."

"Roses are red," she began. "Violets are blue."

Seth rubbed his beard to hide his uncomfortable smile.

"I'm ready for love. And I hope you are too," she smiled.

He put his hand down after that line but she wasn't done. As she read another line, he tried his best to tune it out. If he heard any more, he was going to laugh and he didn't want to hurt her feelings. Once she was done, he thanked her, trying not to watch as she struggled to walk back up the ramp.

His phone buzzed and he pulled it out. It had buzzed several times in his pocket during Jade's poem. The first message was from Sasha. It was a picture of herself, Nia Jax, Xavier Woods, and Charlotte Flair wearing the same shirts as the girls. The next text was also from her.

 _What did that girl have on those pieces of paper? I MUST KNOW_

Then Renee sent _5 bucks says that girl falls going down the ramp_ and _The next girl is really pretty. Like too pretty. She must be lost._

"Seth, we need you to keep your phone in your pocket," Daisy, one of the producers, came up to the ring apron.

"Sorry Daisy," he flashed her a charming smile. This was the third time she'd told him that and she still managed to say it without sounding annoyed. He was going to like working with her. She might not like working with him though. She gave him a patient smile, "We're almost done. Next girl is on her way. This one is from Illinois. She's 24 and she works in the hospitality industry."

Seth nodded, putting his phone away. He looked up the ramp, big smile spreading across his face when he saw her. Renee wasn't kidding. She was gorgeous. She was on the taller side, with long, impossibly shiny dark hair and a perfect curve to her hips. She was one of the few girls who hadn't cut their shirt to show off more skin which was a disappointment because he could tell she had a great body. When she got closer and flashed him a beautiful smile, he thought to himself, Renee's right; there had to be something seriously wrong with this girl. He walked over, holding the ropes open for her, taking note of her warm brown eyes. She even smelled great.

"Nice to meet you," she smiled, reaching out to shake his hand. "My name's Elle."

She looked up at him and seemed surprised, like she was seeing something unexpected. She looked almost awed or something but the look was gone in an instant.

"Seth," he shook her hand. "Nice to meet you too Elle."

They stood there, awkwardly smiling at each other for a moment before a laugh bubbled up from her and she spoke again, "This is so weird."

"It is," he laughed with her, letting go of her hand. "Trust me; it's just as weird for me as it is for you. I've never done anything like this."

"Neither have I," she smiled. "At least I'm not the only virgin."

As soon as the words left her she looked horrified, "I mean..I'm not a virgin."

Seth raised an eyebrow.

"Not that you need to know that at all," she blushed. She ran a hand through the front of her hair, looking like she was trying very hard to fight off laughter. She gave up and they both started laughing. Every time one of them tried to start a sentence, they would just start laughing again. Seth was probably overtired from not sleeping on the flight to California but he just couldn't stop.

Daisy cleared her throat outside the ring.

"I'm sorry," Elle giggled, shaking her head and covering her mouth.

"We're both sorry Daisy," he called out to her, though neither of them had stopped completely.

"You know we're going to have to cut all of this out," Daisy said.

"Okay, okay," Elle bit her bottom lip. She reached out, her soft hands catching his forearms. She looked him in the eye. Her eyes were big and beautiful with thick, dark lashes. She squeezed his arms, "We're being very unprofessional right now."

"This is all your fault," he smirked. "I have kept it together all day."

"Well you're doing a terrible job now," she giggled when he broke again. He didn't know what it was, he just couldn't stop. He felt like an idiot.

"Stop. Stop," she laughed. "Look at me, take a deep breath."

He did as she instructed and they both took a long, deep breath together. She let go of his arms and he could still feel her warmth as she shook her own arms out.

"You good?" she smirked.

"Are you?"

This time another one of the producers took a turn scolding them, "Guys..we don't have all day."

"I think you're in trouble," Elle whispered to him.

"I think you're right," he agreed. "I'm supposed to ask you why I should keep you around."

"Well," she took a deep breath. It didn't seem that she'd given the question much thought before that moment. She shrugged, "I'm pretty sure I'm the only one here who isn't crazy or already in love with you."

"You make being in love with me sound like a bad thing," he smirked.

"I just think you're probably going to need someone sane to talk to," she suggested, crossing her arms.

"The last girl wrote me a poem," he said. "All you have is sanity?"

"Was it any good?" she raised a perfectly arched eyebrow.

"No, honestly," he admitted. "It was pretty bad."

"Yet another reason to keep me," she held up a finger. "I won't write you any bad poetry. You have my word."

"You make some good points," he chuckled. She seemed so much less nervous than most of the other girls. He liked that. He didn't feel like she was living and dying by whatever decision he made.

"You think you can handle living in the house with the other girls?" he asked. He certainly couldn't imagine being stuck in a house with that many people, male or female.

"I can handle anything," her smile was confident and sexy. She lifted one shoulder, "You don't need to worry about me."

"Good to know," he smiled back at her.

"Okay, we've gotta move on," Daisy clapped her hands together.

"I guess I'll see you later," Elle shrugged. "Maybe."

He nodded, watching her walk away, "Maybe."

* * *

Elle looked up from the Facebook app on her phone when she felt a pair of arm's wrap tightly around her.

"You were great!" Daisy exclaimed, squeezing her tightly.

"I didn't really do anything," Elle laughed. She definitely hadn't planned an uncontrollable giggle fit. She had intended to be much cooler than that but for some reason, when she and Seth started laughing together, she couldn't stop. It probably had something to do with the sound of his laughter. It was ridiculous and kind of infectious.

"You were great, trust me," Daisy insisted. "He seemed to like you."

"We were talking for like 2 minutes," Elle reminded her friend.

"Which is longer than some of the other girls," Daisy said. "Can't you just let me have my happiness?"

"Sorry," Elle put her hands up. She just didn't want Daisy getting too excited. She was only signed up for a few days. She would be in and out. Her phone buzzed in her hand and Elle unlocked the screen, seeing that she had a text from Ethan.

"Put that away," Daisy put her hand over the iPhone, pushing it down into Elle's lap.

Elle stared at her friend, amused.

"You cannot let any of these girls find out you have a boyfriend," Daisy explained.

"Okay, calm down," Elle advised her friend. "I know what I'm doing. And I won't even be here long enough for anyone to find out. Don't worry."

"Once you get in the house, those girls will be like a dog on a bone if they find out," Daisy said. "The pack mentality starts and they will eat you alive."

"I'm gonna be in the house for a day, who cares?" Elle reminded her. They were moving into a mansion, not the jungle.

"Alright, don't say I didn't warn you," Daisy shrugged, patting her on the shoulder. She pointed into the room where the rest of the women were waiting, "Go mingle. I've gotta get back to deliberations."

Elle chose to keep to herself how weird that sounded. Daisy had a lot to do. She headed into the room, feeling awkward. Usually at a casting call, she ran into at least 5 other people she knew. When you went to enough auditions, you started to make friends, and sometimes enemies. But she didn't know a single person in the room and she wasn't sure if she should even bother trying to approach them. They were a beautiful group of girls and they were probably interesting people but Elle's only purpose was essentially to be mean to them for a few days. If she got to know them at all there'd be no way she could do it. She actually felt like an asshole just thinking about it.

"Oh my God, I love your shoes!"

Elle felt a hard slap on her shoulder and she turned to the side, seeing a pretty redhead, smiling with her whole face. She was about the same height as Elle and she looked just like a young Amy Adams, one of Elle's acting idols. She'd seen the actress at a boutique once and her heart nearly stopped she was so star struck. She stood so still the star probably mistook her for a mannequin. Elle snapped back into the moment, rubbing the spot on her arm where she'd been smacked and staring at the lookalike in front of her, "…Hi?"

"Hey," the redhead smiled, her blue eyes full of excitement. She held her hand out, "Kentucky."

Elle frowned, confused, "That's not your name, is it?"

"Of course not," the redhead laughed with a hint of an accent. "I'm Harper. But we've all been introducing ourselves by state. Hence, Kentucky."

"Got it," Elle nodded. "Then I guess I'm Illinois."

"Nice to meet you," Kentucky gave her a stiff handshake. "Now back to those shoes, what size are you? I've got my fingers crossed that you're an 8 because I can't wait to borrow them."

Elle was taken aback. She hadn't spoken 5 sentences to this girl and she was already plotting to borrow her shoes. She had a good eye, though. Elle was an 8.

She confirmed her size and the redhead laughed, "I knew it. I could tell. My dad owns seven shoe stores and made me work in 'em every summer as a kid. I can tell every person in here what size they wear."

That was an incredibly random skill and Elle wasn't sure what to say about it.

"Did you just die when you saw Seth up close?" Kentucky asked, fanning herself. "I thought he was hot on TV but in person? He's a masterpiece. It's insane."

Elle pursed her lips, nodding. Kentucky was right about one thing, pictures did not do Seth justice. Her fit of giggles _may_ initially have had something to do with being caught off guard by how attractive he was. She wasn't about to share that though. She almost wanted to. This girl seemed so friendly and sweet and she wanted to talk about how weird this whole thing was but she couldn't. So instead, she reminded herself that this was a job; a means to an end. That was it.

"Listen, I need to go make a phone call," she said, trying to come off as cold. "Good luck."

She took a deep breath as she walked away, hoping this whole thing would go by quickly.

She stood by herself in the hallway for quite some time. She responded to Ethan's text, telling her to bring Daisy to Catch. He was going with his best friend Sully and Sully's sister Layla.

Of course

Ethan _knew_ Elle didn't like him hanging out with Layla when she wasn't around. He'd dated her for a few months before he dated Elle and Layla never let her forget it. In fact, Elle suspected there had been some overlap between them, despite Ethan's insistence that there wasn't. The two women had gotten into a near physical fight once because Layla thought it was okay to talk about how she and Ethan once had sex on a couch that Elle was sitting on at the time at she and Sully's parents' house in Palm Springs. Elle could feel her blood beginning to boil and she closed her eyes, trying to control her emotions. So what if her boyfriend was going out to spend her hard earned money hanging out with a skank that she couldn't stand while she put herself into a completely awkward situation, just so that she could pay their rent?

Was everything always so red with her eyes closed?

She opened them, turning off her phone and putting it in her back pocket. She was only going to get more and more annoyed and then she was going to call him. She would hear Layla's voice and flip out and start a fight, giving the other woman perfect ammunition to slip her filthy little talons into Elle's man. Fortunately, she was soon distracted by Amy and Jim, Daisy's producer friends, coming by ushering her into the room with the other girls. Jim explained that they would be going out to ringside for the first round of cuts and those who made it would be moving into the house the following day. He winked at Elle when he walked past to lead them out and she rolled her eyes, falling in line.

Seth was standing in the ring and Elle looked up at him. He didn't look anything like guys she dated. He had to have 20 pounds of muscle on Ethan. He was very easy on the eyes. If she was actually single he would definitely turn her head.

She leaned against the security barricade, waiting for eliminations to start. She decided not to bother acting nervous. She was going to play this cool and confident. She knew Daisy said that things were guaranteed but if by some chance she was wrong and Elle didn't get picked, it wouldn't be a big deal. She was still getting paid for the day at least.

"Ladies," Seth smiled. "It has been great meeting all of you. I can't tell you how much I appreciate you all coming here and putting yourselves out there. Unfortunately…there isn't room for everyone in the house. So, if I call out your home state, please come into the ring. You'll be moving in tomorrow. For those that I don't call, just know that you're all incredible women and you'll make some lucky man very happy."

Elle wondered if Seth was reading the states because he hadn't actually learned any of their names. She wouldn't blame him if he didn't. The first state Seth read off was Kentucky. She looked over to see the redhead jump up, clapping her hands together before rushing up the ring steps. Good for her.

"Connecticut

Nevada

Florida

Texas

New York

Illinois."

It took Elle a moment to realize he was talking to her. Someone next to her nudged her and she snapped her head up, meeting Seth's gaze.

"You still interested?" he smirked at her hesitation.

"Of course I am. Sorry," she laughed, pushing off of the barricade and getting into the ring.

"I'm counting on you to keep things sane," he smirked at her.

She smiled at him, "I'll do what I can."


	4. The Big Move

_The Following Morning…_

Elle walked backwards in her heels, pulling her heavy suitcase up the long driveway. One of the wheels was not cooperating and she was tempted to let it go flying back down the hill but she'd already gotten this far. And she was being filmed, of course. She was the first girl to arrive at the house. It was a beautiful place, bigger than she expected. It was in a gated neighborhood that seemed very quiet. Daisy told her it had been a bitch getting this particular house but the WWE was insistent on the house being more secure than ones they would normally use for this type of show, something about fans being able to figure out where it was. Most shows of this type were filmed months in advance but they were doing this a little differently. Each week's worth of filming would air the following week after Monday Night Raw so the fans were getting to see things as they happened. Also, each eliminated girl would be responsible for doing a Facebook live interview after they were cut. Once she finally reached the top of the drive, she was disappointed to see a set of stairs that led to the front door. She shouldn't have packed so much. Daisy told her to make sure it looked like she was planning on staying for the long haul so she shoved as much into her 2 suitcases as she could, thinking she wouldn't really have to deal with them. When she arrived at the house, Amy explained to her that each girl had to be filmed carrying one of their bags inside. She couldn't imagine why but she had to go with it. She heaved the bag up one step at a time, stopping once to stare at the 2 camera men documenting her every move, one behind her and one in front.

"Seriously, _one_ of you can't help with this?" she huffed.

"Don't talk to the cameramen Elle," Jim spoke from inside the house.

She rolled her eyes at the sound of his voice. There was something so smug about him and it really bugged her.

"They're here to document you, not interact with you," he said.

"I can't just not speak to them, that's weird," Elle grunted, yanking the bag up the last step. "They're human beings."

"Just pretend they're not," Jim smiled at her. "You'll get used to it."

She turned to one of the cameramen, making a face that Jim couldn't see. She noticed his shoulders shake with a chuckle. Jim made her wait at the door while they checked the lighting before coming in and getting her reaction shot filmed. She walked around the house ooh'ing and ah'ing. There was a huge kitchen that made her wish she was a more talented cook. She looked through all the bedrooms, some were set up with three beds and a few had two. Then she found the master suite. It was huge with two queen size beds, floor to ceiling windows, a walk in closet the size of Elle's bedroom, and a private bathroom.

"Well I'm staying here," she announced to no one in particular. "Like, I'm not leaving this room. Ever, ever again. I hope you guys have a long rental agreement because I live here now."

If there was one thing she knew, it was that she had to stake her claim or else someone else was going to try to take it and she wasn't having that. Unsure of what else to do since her bag was downstairs, she kicked off her heels and dropped them on the bed. She was about to plop down herself but then she heard voices downstairs. Lots of giggles and squealing. Wanting to keep her new oasis peaceful, she quickly scurried out of the room, locking the door behind her and pulling it shut. If people couldn't get into the room, they couldn't take it. The doorknob looked just like the ones in the house she grew up in, she knew exactly how to pop them open. Her new friends Cameraman A and Cameraman B didn't stop her so it must not have been against any rules. Walking down the stairs was like swimming against the tide. There were women coming up on both sides, some carrying luggage. She noticed a blonde turning the knob on her bedroom door. When it didn't turn, the blonde looked down at her, "What's in here?"

"I don't know," Elle lied through her teeth. "It wouldn't open. I guess we're not supposed to go in there."

She continued down the stairs and saw a group of girls giggling in the kitchen. There were more of them milling about. Everyone seemed to be in a pair or a group except one person.

Elle immediately recognized the pretty redhead who was standing alone in the foyer, looking somewhat overwhelmed, like things were moving too fast around her. Elle could understand the feeling. This was a lot to take in. She knew she was supposed to be positioning herself to be unlikeable but she couldn't help herself. She walked quickly around the kitchen, losing the cameramen in the gaggle of girls there. Once she was clear of them, she headed back toward the foyer, "Kentucky?"

The redhead still seemed to be in a daze.

"Harper?" Elle tried her real name.

She jumped, looking up. She smiled when she seemed to recognize Elle, "Illinois, right?"

"Elle," she smiled, holding out her hand. "Are you okay? You looked a little out of it there."

"I'm just wondering if I'm crazy for doing this," Harper admitted.

"You're just now wondering that?" Elle smirked.

Harper laughed, "I just…I've never even traveled outside the Midwest before. And I've only ever had 2 boyfriends. And now I'm all the way out in California, trying to compete with all these gorgeous girls for a guy that I've only ever seen on TV. I'm crazy right? You can tell me I'm crazy."

"You are probably crazy," Elle laughed, gripping the other girl's shoulders. "Everyone's a little crazy. And you are just as pretty as any other girl in this house. And yes, you're trying to win the affections of a stranger that you've seen on TV but...I don't have a great explanation for that part but it is what it is. We're here now. Let's just try to have fun."

"You're the only person who's even spoken to me today," Harper said. "I rode over here in a van with 5 other girls and they didn't speak to me at all."

"Well that's their loss, fuck 'em," Elle shrugged. Harper looked surprised at her language and Elle shook her head, offering her arm, "They're just jealous because you got called first yesterday. Come on. I'll show you the best room in the house."

"You were not this nice to me yesterday," Harper reminded her.

"I know," Elle said. "Don't tell anybody. You'll ruin my reputation."

She led Harper up to the master suite and they procured a bobby pin from one of the bathrooms so that Elle could pick the lock. The Kentucky native couldn't have been more thrilled with the suite. Harper grabbed clothes from her bag and put some on her bed and some on Elle's so the room was effectively claimed. Then they headed back downstairs. Elle still needed to bring up her bag and Harper wanted water. Elle was grabbing bottles of water for both of them when the squealing started up again. That was definitely going to get old quickly. She hadn't dealt with this many squealing girls since high school. She turned to see what the commotion was about and she saw the cameramen backing into the house, followed by Seth and several of the girls. How the hell did they know he'd arrived? Were they just sitting at the door waiting for him?

Elle actually felt bad for Seth. He was being absolutely swarmed. She sat on the kitchen island, watching the spectacle before her. Harper came over, taking one of the bottles of water, "Do you think we should go over there?"

"You can if you want to," Elle shrugged. "I'm staying over here so I don't get my eyes clawed out."

"They wouldn't claw our eyes out," Harper scoffed. Then her eyes went wide, "They wouldn't. Right?"

Elle laughed, looking over at the young woman, "Not if you don't let them."

They talked for a few minutes about how to keep their eyes safe until Harper started smoothing her hair and clearing her throat, her eyes darting off to the side. Elle turned to see Seth heading their way. He'd shed most of his followers.

"Ladies," he smiled at them.

"Hi," Harper smiled, flipping her hair over her shoulder.

"Hey," Elle waved. "Long time, no see."

"Are you two all moved in?" he asked.

"God no," Elle chuckled. "I haven't even taken my other suitcase upstairs."

"But she did manage to get us the best room in the house," Harper laughed.

"Priorities," Seth pointed at Elle. "I like that."

"Good to hear," Elle smirked. They made eye contact and Seth's teeth caught his bottom lip for half a second and the temperature in the room seemed to creep up a few degrees. She cleared her throat, leaning back on her hands to create more space.

"Where's the rest of your stuff?" he asked. "I'll take it upstairs for you. You can show me the best room in the house."

She got down from the island and it wasn't lost on her that he was checking her out. She pointed out where her bag was and he walked over, lifting it with ease, "Lead the way."

Elle was surprised that Harper wasn't coming with them but she didn't think too much about it. She led him up the stairs with a cameraman following closely behind them.

"What do you have in this thing?" he laughed.

"Only absolute necessities," she joked. "I'm a stranger to the whole concept of packing light."

"I can tell," he laughed when they reached the room. She pushed the door open, "And this is where all of the magic happens."

"Are you and Kentucky that close already?" he teased.

She rolled her eyes, grabbing the handle on the side of her bag. She tried to lift it as easily as he had and failed miserably.

"I got it," he stood close behind her, lifting it up onto her bed. She looked over her shoulder at him, feeling a blush creep up her cheeks. Where the hell was Kentucky and why wasn't she in here taking attention away from Elle?

She took a step away, taking a look at him. He was in incredibly tight jeans and the same shirt all the girls had worn the day before.

"Are you ever _not_ wearing a shirt with your name or face on it?" she asked.

"You got a shirt you want me to wear instead?" he returned.

"Sure," she said, not afraid of a challenge. She unzipped her bag, rifling through until she found a sleeveless shirt that she often slept in. She held it out for him and he shrugged, pulling his shirt off over his head. She tried her best not to notice his muscles flexing as he took the shirt from her and, with a slight struggle, pulled it on. There was a mermaid on the front and he looked absolutely ridiculous. It stopped just above his belly button and dipped low in the back. She doubled over with laughter when he did a spin in front of her.

"What?" he asked. "Is this not turning you on?"

She nodded, "Oh this is definitely doing it for me."

"I think I look pretty hot," he grinned.

"I don't disagree," she crossed her arms, shaking her head in disbelief.

"I can tell that you're getting some ideas here and I need you to know that it's not gonna be that easy," he pointed. "I'm not that kind of guy."

"Oh I have a feeling you're totally that kind of guy," she smirked.

"Seth, we need you to keep making the rounds with the girls."

Elle looked over Seth's shoulder to see Amy leaning into the room.

"Duty calls," he shrugged. "I'll see you later?"

"You know where I live," she shrugged, putting her hands in her pockets. She expected him to take off her shirt but instead he just walked out of the room without a care in the world. She chuckled, watching him go.

* * *

Seth wasn't sure what to do next. He'd carried a bunch of bags upstairs for the girls. He'd hung out with some of them in the kitchen and in their rooms. Now he was just sort of standing in the hallway, enjoying a moment of silence. He had a feeling he wasn't going to get many of those with this group. He still couldn't believe he was doing this. It wasn't all bad though. The girls were hot. There wasn't a bad one in the bunch.

One of the production assistants was going down the hallway putting a dry erase board on the wall next to each room and writing the names of its inhabitants. The door in front of Seth opened and he recognized one of the girls as the one from Nevada. He couldn't remember where the other was from.

"I didn't know you were still up here," Nevada, a gorgeous blonde, smiled at him. " _What_ are you wearing?"

"This is how Seth Rollins responds to a challenge," he pointed down at the shirt.

"I'm not sure if it's a good look," she laughed. "Did you get the full house tour? This place is beautiful."

"I think I've seen just about everything," he nodded.

"Well you haven't seen my room yet," she smiled, reaching out for his hand. "It's got an awesome view."

He followed her in, more than willing to see whatever view she wanted to show him. She was wearing a white sundress that barely touched her thighs. She looked over her shoulder, smiling when she caught him checking her out.

"See? I told you the view was good," she purred, turning to face him.

The camera man behind Seth tripped over his cord and Seth turned, "You okay man?"

"Don't talk to the cameramen Seth," Producer Jim walked into the room behind him.

"Sorry, just making sure he's okay," Seth put his hands up.

"Okay, just pretend we're not here, go back to your conversation," Jim gestured for him to turn back to the blonde. He turned to find her unzipping her suitcase.

"I don't know where to put all of this stuff," she laughed. "I packed a lot. I plan to be here for a long time."

"That's good to hear," he smiled, trying to remember what she'd told him her name was. Something with an 'N'…Nina? No, that wasn't it.

There was shuffling behind them and then a tapping sound, like someone knocking on the wall. Nevada looked annoyed and Seth turned, smiling when he saw that Jim had walked out into the hall and Elle was leaning against the doorjamb.

"Sorry to interrupt," she said, looking unapologetic. "I was just wondering if you were planning on giving me my shirt back."

"I don't know, it's pretty comfortable," he shrugged.

She laughed, holding out her hand.

He grabbed the hem of the shirt and pulled it off over his head, watching her face for a reaction. He got the sense that she liked to play it cool but he saw her eyebrows lift before she cleared her throat. He tossed the shirt and she caught it easily, "Thank you."

She turned to leave but he moved to follow her.

The young woman behind him made a displeased noise and he turned, "I'll be right back."

Elle shot him a puzzled look when he followed after her, "And where are you going?"

"To get my shirt," he answered when they reached her doorway.

"That does make sense," she nodded, gesturing for him to go in first. She remained close to the door and he looked for his shirt where he'd left it on her bed. It wasn't there.

He turned, smiling, "If you wanted a keepsake, all you had to do was ask."

She frowned, "Wait, it's not there?"

He shook his head, stepping aside when she came over to look for herself.

She looked up at him, laughing, "I swear it was here when I left."

"You think your roommate took it?" he asked, amused.

"No. She's not creepy enough to do that," Elle shook her head. "Sorry. I guess you're gonna have to go it shirtless now. Or you can have my mermaid shirt back if you're feeling overexposed."

He was about to make a joke about her taking her top off but Jim leaned into the room, clapping his hands, "We need everyone downstairs for an announcement. Chop, chop."

He was gone as quickly as he'd appeared and he could be heard making the announcement to the next room over.

"You heard the man," she looked over at him, clapping her hands. "Chop, chop."

"Ladies first," he swept his arm out to the side, waiting for her to exit. He followed her downstairs, making sure to keep his eyes up. He was becoming aware of the constant cameras and he remembered Sasha warning him that he would come off like a creep if he was constantly staring at the girls.

When they got downstairs, Seth was relieved to see Corey Graves had arrived. It was nice to have a familiar face around. He and Corey weren't close friends but they'd always gotten along and he needed someone to talk to who thought this situation was as crazy as he did.

"And here's the man of the hour," Corey held his arms out wide.

"How do you get to show up so much later than I do?" Seth laughed.

"Perks of being the host," Corey grinned. "Plus my hair takes a lot longer than yours does. How's it going so far today?"

Seth looked over to see Jim, Amy, and Daisy lining the girls up and checking lighting.

"It's weird, man," he shook his head. "Some of the girls are cool though."

"Any one in particular?"

Seth shrugged, "I haven't even gotten to talk to them all yet."

"Okay, ladies, just keep quiet for a few minutes please," Daisy instructed the group. "When we say action, Corey is going to explain the plan for the rest of the day and tomorrow. You're allowed to react but please no yelling and stay where you are. Once that's done, Seth and Corey will exit and we will get footage of you going upstairs to get ready. Understood?"

Everyone agreed, Amy very carefully placed Corey and Seth so that they were, in her words, framed perfectly. Once they were rolling, Corey began, "Ladies, I hope you're all enjoying the beginning of your stay here at the mansion. To help all of you get to know each other and, of course, get to know Seth, we're going to have ourselves a pool party. We'll give you some time to go get changed and then you can meet us outside. Afterward, Seth has to go get some work done so you'll have some free time here at the house tonight. Tomorrow, Seth will return and there will be a cocktail hour before our first elimination ceremony. 3 of you will be leaving us tomorrow. So make sure to make the most of the time you have today, as you may not have an opportunity before elimination tomorrow. Good luck to everyone and let's have a great time!"

"And bikinis are totally optional at the pool party," Seth joked.

"That is not true, bikinis are not optional," Daisy stepped in. She put a hand over her headset microphone and looked over at Seth, "Please don't tell them things like that. Some of these girls will believe you."

"Just the tops?" he teased her.

Daisy sighed, "OK girls, start heading upstairs!"

* * *

Elle sat at the edge of the pool, squeezing out her soaking wet hair before twisting it up into a bun. She was having a great time despite the fact that she and Harper were two of only five girls that had actually gotten in the gorgeous infinity pool. Texas, Connecticut, and New York had come in as well. The rest of the girls were walking around in heels and barely there bikinis, obviously hoping that their makeup didn't melt off in the hot midday sun while they waited for Seth to make his way over to them. She was no dummy, she'd worn her favorite bikini and waterproof eyeliner and mascara but she could not, for the life of her, understand the girls who'd put on a full beat; contour, fake lashes, the works. It was too damn hot and the pool was far too inviting for that nonsense. She hadn't gone swimming in ages and she was going to enjoy herself.

She heard her name and looked up to see Daisy standing off to the side behind the cameramen. She grabbed a towel and dried off her feet so she wouldn't fall before walking over to her friend.

"What's up?" she smiled.

"You're being too passive," Daisy said, handing her a drink.

"Sorry?" Elle laughed, gratefully accepting the cocktail. She had been sticking to water because of the heat but the drinks looked delicious.

"Seth has been out here for a half hour and you haven't even attempted to talk to him," Daisy explained herself. She knew Seth was there. Last time she saw him he was sitting on a lounge chair talking to Nevada and Florida. She was really going to have to learn some more names. She looked over her shoulder and found him in the same place. He was wearing sunglasses but she could tell that he wasn't actually looking at either woman next to him. He was looking into the pool which was empty after Elle got out.

"Well what do you want me to do?" Elle questioned.

"Get over there and steal him away, piss someone off," Daisy shrugged.

"Really, D?" Elle stared at her.

"Look, you know me, in my personal life, I'm all for empowerment and sisterhood and all that but I'm at work right now and I need things to get a little turned up so we don't hand in a boring first episode."

"Isn't the objective here to make sure he doesn't like me?" Elle asked.

"We want him to like you," Daisy corrected. "Just not enough to keep you for very long. Now go be charming but not _too_ charming."

"Work Daisy scares me," Elle whispered, faking a shiver.

"Good, now go do what I said," Daisy turned her around and smacked her on the ass.

Elle downed half of her drink and then squared her shoulders, walking over to Seth. She stepped right up to him, smiling, "You look bored. Why don't you come talk to me?"

She held out her hand and he looked a little surprised but he took it.

"We were in the middle of a conversation," Nevada snipped.

"Were you?" Elle asked, her voice dripping with condescension. "It didn't seem like he was that interested."

The blonde looked _pissed_ and for a moment, Elle thought she was about to get hit. Seth must have seen it too because he stood up, standing between them, assuring the other woman he would talk to her later. Elle smiled sweetly at her and kept a hold of Seth's hand as she led him away. She could feel a set of eyes shooting daggers at her back.

* * *

Seth walked behind Elle, enjoying the view as she led him away from the group. She'd caught him off guard when she interrupted his conversation but it wasn't unwelcome. He didn't actually remember what they were talking about. They walked around the side of the house where there was another set of chairs but they were out of sight of the rest of the girls. Not the cameramen though. Those were never far away.

"That was surprisingly aggressive," he noted when he took a seat.

"You really did look bored," she shrugged, sitting on her heels in the other chair. She was in a dark red bikini and her body was incredible. Her stomach was flat and toned, her legs were long and sexy. The sun was beating down right at her face and she held up her hand to block it out. He took off his Ray Bans handing them to her and she smiled, putting them on, "That's much better. Thank you."

"You're welcome," he leaned back in his chair. "So..tell me about yourself."

"What do you want to know?"

He shrugged, "Anything. Where in Illinois are you from?"

"I doubt you've heard of it," she laughed.

"I probably have, trust me," he said.

"It's in the suburbs of Chicago," she answered. "Plainfield."

"I've heard of it," he nodded. "I think I've actually been there once or twice."

If he remembered correctly it was a pretty nice town, a lot like other Chicago suburbs. Lots of strip malls and big subdivisions.

"Oh yeah?" she looked surprised. "I never meet anyone who's heard of it."

"I'm from Iowa," he explained, figuring she might not know. She didn't seem to be a fan like some of the other girls. He wasn't sure if that gave him an advantage with her or not.

"I have some family in Iowa," she said. She tipped up his sunglasses, given him a wary look, "Oh God, I hope we're not cousins."

He laughed, "I think I would remember seeing you at the family reunions."

"My family doesn't do reunions so I think we're in the clear," she wiped fake sweat from her brow. He liked her, she was funny. It was nice to feel like someone else was amused by everything going on around them.

"So I have to ask…Cubs or Sox? Or do you not care about baseball?"

"Are you stupid? I am a born and bred Cubs fan," she perked up.

"Is this a bad time to tell you that I'm a Cardinals fan?" he scratched his chin.

"Jesus Christ," she threw her head back. "I should just leave now. You obviously have terrible taste."

"I picked you to stay," he said when she brought her head back up and met his eyes again. "Don't I get points for that?"

"That only makes your taste _slightly_ less questionable."

* * *

Elle tossed her still damp hair over her shoulder, looking down at her phone. She'd sent a text checking in with Ethan but he hadn't gotten back to her yet. He'd miraculously booked a job shooting an eyewear campaign and the shoot was taking place over the next two days in the mountains. She assumed he would get back to her when he got a chance.

The door to her room flew open and she jumped, shoving her phone under her pillow. Everyone had to surrender their phones upon moving into the house but Daisy had gotten Elle's back to her before the pool party. Harper stormed into the room looking red in the face. She was wrapped tightly in a towel, her red tresses twisted up into another.

"What's wrong?" Elle questioned.

"Nothing," Harper sighed, dropping her hairbrush onto her bed. She plopped down onto the foot of her bed, staring at the wall.

"Well that's obviously a lie," Elle sighed. Try as she might, she couldn't help liking Harper. She seemed so sweet and she was a lot of fun. "Come on. Tell me what's wrong."

"After I took a shower I went to the glam room," Harper began. There was a large area with a bunch of vanity stations where the women were told to put their makeup and whatever they needed for their hair. "And Mia was using my blow dryer."

"Wait-Mia?" Elle stopped her for clarification.

"Nevada," Harper explained. "Anyway, I asked if I could have it and she told me to wait. I told her it was mine and she said 'that doesn't change the fact that you'll have to wait'. Who acts like that?"

"Have you never met a bitch before?" Elle leaned back against her pillows. "Because that's just a classic bitch move."

"Of course I have," Harper said. "I just…I don't deal well with conflict. I freeze up."

"Hence you being here with wet hair while some bitch uses your blow dryer," Elle said. She sat up, "You know where you went wrong, right?"

Harper shrugged.

Elle sighed, "You _asked_ to use your own property. That doesn't make any sense."

"So what was I supposed to do?"

"Unplug it," Elle made a pulling gesture. "Yank it right out of the wall and walk out like a boss."

"Like Sasha Banks?" Harper laughed.

"Sure," Elle shrugged, not knowing who the hell Harper was talking about. Whoever Harper equated with a boss was fine, as long as she got the message. "You can't let a girl like that walk all over you. They sense weakness and they pounce. Trust me, I grew up with 3 sisters in a two bathroom house. It's like living in the jungle. Kill or be killed."

Elle loved her sisters but she'd once been burned with a curling iron because she didn't get out of the bathroom fast enough. It was her parents' fault for having all of them so close together. They were always vying for the same space. Elle was the second youngest. She learned to assert herself at an early age. She got up, walking over to one of her bags and digging out her blow dryer. She had decided to let her hair air dry so she hadn't used it yet. She held it out, "You can use this. Or…you can go and get yours back."

Harper cast a nervous glance at the door before taking the blow dryer from Elle's hand, "I'll be a boss next time. I promise."

Elle smiled, "Whatever you say Kentucky."

* * *

"You have to tell me everything about the first day in the house," Renee looked at Seth expectantly. Seth had to be at the Smackdown taping since he was appearing in a dark match teaming with Dean against AJ Styles and Baron Corbin. He arrived late but Renee found him as soon as he was finished putting his gear on. He'd barely set one foot into the catering area before she was on him.

"Who did you keep? Were there any more poems?" the questions were just streaming from her. She barely took a breath, "Is Illinois as pretty up close as she was from far away? Does Corey hate any of the girls yet? If he does, you have to tell me who so they can immediately become my favorite."

"You are obsessed," he laughed at his friend.

"Maybe a little," Renee admitted shamelessly. "But I would like answers to my questions please."

"I kept 20 girls," he started. "I go back tomorrow and cut three more. There haven't been any more poems yet but that doesn't mean there never will be. Corey hates Florida. He says she gives off a bad vibe. And Elle is gorgeous up close."

" _Ooh_ , she has a name," Renee smirked. "What's Elle short for?"

"I don't know, I didn't ask," Seth shrugged. "I haven't asked a lot of questions about any of them. It's weird, it takes forever just to set things up and then I have to try and have a conversation with each one of them while I also have the producers tugging me around every five seconds. They say it'll be easier when there's less girls."

"So do you like any of them?"

Seth shrugged, "I don't know yet…There's a few that I think are interesting."


	5. Phonegate

**Chapter 5…**

Elle fluffed her pillow, keeping her eyes closed, trying desperately to hold on to her sleep. The only bad thing about her beautiful new bedroom oasis, was that it was far too close to the Glam Room. While she wanted to sleep in until someone was dragging her out of bed, some of the other girls were up and moving about the house. The ones in the Glam Room had apparently been raised on an air field because they felt the need to speak as loudly as humanly possible.

She pulled her blanket up over her head, bunching it up around her ear to help muffle the sounds. She just needed another hour. Then, she would be ready to deal with this craziness for another day.

"Morning!"

Harper's voice filled the room and Elle groaned, unable to hide her displeasure. Why had she chosen to room with an early riser?

"Hey Elle, can I use your blow dryer again?"

Elle couldn't understand why the other woman was talking to her. Was the blanket covering her head not enough of an indicator that she didn't want to be bothered? She sighed deeply, dramatically flipping the covers away from her face and propping herself up on her elbow. Harper stood a few feet away wrapped in a big fluffy blue towel, her red waves dripping with water, "Why do you want mine? Where's yours?"

"It's uh…in use…again," Harper answered with apprehension.

"Nevada again?" Elle asked and received a nod in response. "Harper, you're killing me here. We talked about this."

"I know, I know," the redhead said. "I just don't want to deal with any drama this morning. I'll say something if it happens again, I swear."

Elle believed that she meant what she was saying. She seemed very sincere. She also knew that when the next time came, Harper would cower again.

"It's in the same bag over there," Elle pointed to the corner of the room, trying to ignore the camera that was mounted in that same corner. She couldn't imagine what those things were catching during the night. She hoped she would never know.

"Thank you," Harper's shoulders relaxed and she rushed over to get the blow dryer. "I'll bring it right back."

Elle waved a hand, flopping back down onto her pillow and pulling the covers over her head again as her roommate left, closing the door quietly behind her. She tried for 10 minutes to get back to sleep but she just couldn't get into to a proper relaxed state. She grumpily pushed her covers down, untangling the sheet from around her legs and got up. She grabbed a pair of shorts out of her bag, slipped them on, then twisted up her hair.

If she had to be up, she was going to do something useful. She was going to nip this situation with Nevada in the bud so she didn't get woken up again over a god damn blow dryer.

She walked into the hallway, trying to remember which room the offending contestant was in. She noticed a camera man following after her but she tried her best to shake off the weird feeling. It was so different from filming a normal acting job. She felt like her space was constantly being invaded. At least she wouldn't have to deal with it much longer. She walked to down the hall until she found the room marked NV & CT. The door was cracked open and she was about to enter until she heard the voices.

"Texas is the worst one. Like, you've got to be kidding me. There's no way."

"Right? He's looking for a girlfriend, not Grade A Texas Cattle."

Elle was stunned, not so much by how bitchy the comments were but more by the inaccuracy. Abigail, from Texas, was absolutely beautiful. And not fat, at least not in the world Elle was living in. Elle hated the type of girls that would resort to calling someone fat because they couldn't think of a real thing to criticize. She'd known girls like that in high school, quite a few actually. She'd probably done it herself, if she was honest. But as she'd gotten older and more mature, she'd realized how much better it is when women build each other up instead of clawing at each other for no good reason. Apparently these two had not learned that lesson.

"I bet he'll cut her tonight. Her and Colorado. I'm sure they're gone."

"As long as you and I make it to the end, I don't really care who gets cut when. We have to do whatever we can to make sure we're the final two."

"I don't think it will be that hard."

Elle rolled her eyes and knocked on the doorjamb. She wasn't interested in hearing any more of their petty gossip. She was sure they'd get to her and then she'd forget all of that 'women supporting women' stuff and go tell them everything that was wrong with them.

"Come in!"

She pushed the door open, taking a few steps into the room, the camera man went in past her, presumably so that he could get a better shot of all of them.

"Hey, Illinois, right?" Mia asked.

Elle knew that the blonde knew exactly who she was but she didn't bother calling her on it, "Yeah. I'm Elle. Nina, is it?"

" _Mia_ ," the blonde corrected, looking perturbed.

Elle smiled internally. Two could play that game. She didn't even ask Connecticut her name because she was clearly waiting for her to.

"What's up? Did you need something?" Mia asked.

"I'm glad you asked that," Elle smiled. "I just need you to stop using Harper's stuff."

"Harper?" Connecticut looked confused.

"Kentucky," Elle clarified. "She's a really sweet girl and she doesn't want to start any drama but…we've been here like five minutes and you're already messing with her? Come on."

"Why would you think I'm messing with her?" Mia asked.

Elle wasn't going to explain to Mia what she'd done. She already knew.

"You should try and get to know her," Elle continued. "She's great. You'll like her."

"Oh really?" Mia asked. "And does the same go for you? Because you didn't exactly make a great first impression at the pool party."

She was wondering if the other woman would bring that up.

"Oh I don't really care if you like _me_ or not," Elle responded, keeping her tone cool, matter of fact. "Harper's the sweet one who doesn't want conflict. Not me."

She crossed her arms over her chest, meeting Mia's gaze, waiting for her to respond. Responses like that were a nightmare for girls like her. Mia wanted Elle to get mad and demonstrative and she wasn't going to give in.

"I just assumed we were all going to be cool about sharing," Mia shrugged. "In my sorority house, we all shared each other's things. I didn't realize it would be such a big deal."

"No one minds sharing that I'm aware of," Elle said. "But if someone asks for their property back, you give it back without any issue. Just common sense stuff, you know? Let's all pretend we're big girls for at least a few days before the shit starts, okay?"

* * *

Seth watched as the young man from the hotel kitchen wheeled another cart full of food into his room. He looked over at Dean questioningly, "Dude, how much did you order?"

"I don't know," Dean shrugged. "Three or four of everything from the breakfast menu. Something like that."

Seth shook his head. Dean found out the night before that the production company was paying for Seth and Corey's hotel rooms, including any room service they ordered. He and Renee showed up that morning as Seth was getting back from the gym demanding that he let them use his phone. Graves came a few minutes later saying that Dean had invited him.

"What? I'm hungry," Dean insisted. "And I invited a few more people so it won't go to waste."

Seth wasn't surprised. This wasn't the first time that Dean had planned some kind of get together in Seth's hotel room without his knowledge. At least this time he didn't have to pay for anything.

"So you go back to the crazy house today?" Dean asked, plopping down on the foot of the bed with a plate of eggs.

Seth nodded, looking through the spread for something he wanted. He settled on an omelette, "Tonight's the elimination thing."

"So how is that supposed to go?" Renee asked, all too happy to discuss the show.

"I'm not totally sure," Seth admitted. "I have to cut three girls, I know that much."

"You gotta cut Florida, I'm beggin' ya," Corey spoke up. "She's the absolute worst."

"She's so cute though," Renee argued.

"Try to have a conversation with her," Corey's features twisted in disgust. "I promise you'll change your mind."

Seth agreed. He wasn't looking for a Rhodes Scholar but she barely seemed to be able to answer questions about her own life. Renee had a point though, she was very cute.

"I just hope none of them cry," Seth took a bite of his food. "I don't want to make anybody cry."

"It's awfully arrogant of you to assume they'd cry over you," Dean pointed with his fork. "Very presumptuous."

"They came on a reality show to try and win my affection," Seth reminded his friend.

"Or to get on TV," Renee suggested.

"Or to disappoint their fathers," Dean added.

"Definitely that," Renee agreed.

"Probably not so much for you," Dean said.

"You might want to be a little nicer if you want to keep enjoying your free breakfast," Seth threatened.

Dean scoffed, "I'll just go to Graves' room. I don't need you."

Corey shrugged, "I'll allow it."

"I want to know more about the elimination," Renee said. "Are you giving them each something or just saying their names or what? What's the deal?"

"I think I'm supposed to give them something," Seth answered. He hadn't paid as much attention as he probably should have during the production meeting the day before.

"I hope it's a replica belt," Dean laughed. "Or a Money in the Bank briefcase."

"It's a key," Corey explained. "On a necklace."

"Awww, like a key to your heart?" Renee laughed.

"Oh God," Seth made a face. "Can we not call it that? Let's call it a key to my pants. I like that better."

"I can't wait to see the first episode," Renee said. "It airs Monday after Raw, right?"

"Yeah," Seth answered, distracted when he heard his phone going off over and over, like a bunch of texts going through. Dean grabbed it and tossed it to him. He had five messages. All from Sasha.

 _THE NEW DAY ARE GOING TO BE ON THE SECOND EPISODE?_

 _I am so mad at you right now_

 _You better get me on that show_

 _SETH_

The last text was just a gif of the time he fell coming over the barricade during the Shield days.

He shook his head, he didn't even know The New Day were doing an episode. He only knew the guests that were coming that week. He would have to try and get Sasha in so she didn't bite his head off when he saw her. He'd put a call in to one of the producers.

* * *

Elle was not going to enjoy saying goodbye to this house. It was so spacious and beautiful and there was a fully stocked refrigerator and bar. The mattresses were pillow top and the sheets were of a high thread count. It was positively heavenly. Or it would have been if it wasn't filled with 19 other women, 6 producers, and a bunch of cameras. That part she would not miss.

Loud laughter drew her out of her musing and she got back to the reason she'd come into the kitchen. Wine. She poured a glass for herself and another for Harper. A bunch of the girls were chatting in the living room while they waited for the producers to tell them to get ready for cocktail hour. Elle was fairly certain that they kept them in the dark as much as they did to keep them riled up and stir crazy.

It gave them a lot of time to get to know each other, since the only TV they had was the WWE network. She liked some of them a lot. They were sweet. They were also a gorgeous crop of people. Seth had a great pack to choose from. Elle couldn't figure out why they were trying to find a man on a reality show but to each their own. There were also some she wasn't quite as fond of, Mia being at the top of the list. She walked around the house like she owned the place and after their interaction that morning, Elle was certain that the Nevada representative was a total asshole. She must have been the 'long term villain' that the producers told her about.

"Is there half a bottle in here?" Harper laughed when Elle returned to the couch with the large balloon glasses.

"Of course there is," Elle shrugged. "Glasses this big are made so that you can say you had two glasses instead of having to say you drank a whole bottle."

"She's right about that," Jules, also known as New York, spoke up from the couch opposite them. "That's just common knowledge."

"Well I don't drink wine that much," Harper said. "Certainly not enough to need to explain putting away a whole bottle."

"I don't think I know how to drink less than a whole bottle at this point," Jules laughed, raising her own glass. "To Seth, ladies."

"To Seth," Harper and a few others raised various beverages and clinked their glasses together.

The conversation turned to the impending elimination ceremony and speculation on how it would go. A few of the girls thought they were in danger because they didn't spend much time with Seth at the pool party.

"We couldn't all drag him off to a dark corner like Illinois over there," Colorado pointed at Elle. She was smiling but Elle could see the tension behind it.

"It was broad daylight, there were no dark corners," Elle laughed. She'd heard a few others complain about her conversation with Seth at the party. They'd talked for about 15 minutes before heading back to the group. He seemed like a nice enough guy; cocky but smart and fun to talk to.

"Ladies," Mia walked into the room, trailed by Connecticut, Elle still hadn't learned her name. "I have been informed that pizzas are at the end of the drive and will be here momentarily."

There was a chorus of cheers and Abigail groaned loudly, "The last thing I need is pizza in the house. How am I supposed to impress Seth after I wolf down a whole sausage pizza?"

"I don't think you _have_ to eat a whole one," Mia laughed.

"Honey, I don't know when to stop when it comes to two things; barbecue and pizza," Abigail said. "That's why I don't go anywhere near 'em."

Elle caught Daisy standing in the foyer, waving her hand. The producer gave her a sharp look and she frowned, confused for a moment. Then she realized what Daisy wanted her to do. She'd heard about the footage from Mia's room that morning and told her she needed to instigate something soon. Elle didn't think this was the right time. She didn't want to embarrass Abigail. She hadn't planned on bringing it up at all.

"I'm sure you'll be fine," Mia insisted. "One pizza won't hurt."

Daisy bugged her eyes out and Elle sighed, taking a big gulp of wine before putting her glass down and fixing a curious gaze on her new foe, "So is that why you said she looked like grade A Texas cattle earlier?"

Mia's mouth dropped open in surprise and Abigail's face was a twisted mixture of anger and mortification. Elle felt like such a jerk for a moment but she reminded herself that Mia was the one who made the comment. She was just calling her out on it. She didn't like watching her sit there and tell the girl to eat up when Elle heard her snickering and calling her a porker a few hours earlier.

" _What_ did you call me?" Abigail stared.

"Why would you bring that up?" Mia questioned.

"Why would you say it in the first place?" Elle countered. "I just think we should get all of our feelings out in the open. You had a lot to say about her earlier, why not say it to her face?"

Out of the corner of her eye, Elle could see Daisy smiling and she tried not to be disappointed in how excited her friend looked. They were both there to do a job.

"Well if we're revealing secrets, then why don't we talk about your cell phone?" Connecticut piped up, standing close to Mia's side.

That didn't take long, did it?

"My what?" Elle stared at her.

"Your cell phone," Mia repeated. "The one that you have upstairs in your room, despite the fact that all of us had to give ours up when we got here."

Elle took a moment to try and decide how to play this. They'd obviously found the phone. She considered pretending it wasn't hers but then they would attack Harper and she didn't want to be responsible for that. Well, she was there to act, it was time to put on a show.

"What were you doing in our room?" Harper asked, stiffening up her posture.

Elle appreciated the help but she didn't need it and she tried to give Harper a look that conveyed that before turning back to Mia.

"You want openness and honesty, right?" Mia asked. "So explain to me why you still have your cell phone."

"Because it's mine and I didn't want to give it up," Elle shrugged. "It's not my fault none of you tried to keep yours. Maybe you should have thought of it."

"Why would you want to keep it?" Abigail asked. "It's against the rules."

"Is there someone at home that you need to keep in contact with?" Mia asked. "Perhaps a boyfriend?"

Daisy was right. This phone thing was a snowballing quickly. Her phone was password protected and her background was a picture of her niece. There was no way that they had any proof of Ethan's existence. They only had their, accurate, speculation.

"No, I don't have a boyfriend," Elle insisted. "Jesus, I kept my phone. It's not the end of the world."

"If you don't have a boyfriend, then prove it," Mia shrugged.

"Go get your phone and let us look for ourselves," Connecticut haughtily demanded.

"You bitches are crazy if you think I'm going to let you invade my privacy," Elle laughed. She wasn't about to give them her phone. She wouldn't do it even if she _didn't_ have a boyfriend to hide. "I'm not giving you my phone. I don't even _know_ you."

"Fine, then let someone you trust do it," Mia suggested. "How about Kentucky?"

"I've known this girl for 24 hours," Elle jerked her thumb toward Harper. "I like her, but I'm not giving her my fucking phone."

"Of course you won't," Mia scoffed, her volume growing loud. "Because you have something to hide."

Elle cast a quick glance toward Daisy who quickly slashed her hand across her throat and darted her eyes toward the stairs.

Dramatic walkout, that made sense. And Elle was great at storming off. Her father complained about it all through teenage years.

"This is ridiculous," she threw up her free hand, keeping her wine clutched in the other and standing up. "You're mad because I called you out for saying something shitty and now you want to throw petty accusations at me. I'm over this. I won't entertain it. Go find someone else to fuck with."

She brushed past her aggressors, stomping up the stairs, glad to have gotten away before they could say anything further. Once she was inside her room, she slammed the door dramatically and then rested her back against it. These few days in paradise were going to be harder than she realized.

* * *

"I have nothing to say to you."

Seth laughed, holding up his phone. He'd just finished getting ready for the elimination and he thought it would be a good time to FaceTime Sasha. She'd had hours to calm down.

"Come on Sash," he chuckled. "I don't have a say in who they picked so far. I already asked if we can have you on as soon as possible."

"You did?" Sasha narrowed her eyes.

He didn't ask but he would so he nodded, "I did. They're working on it."

"You won't be fully forgiven until it's confirmed that I'm on but I guess I can talk to you," Sasha relented. "You look good. I'm liking this suit."

"Thank you," he smiled. He knew he looked good. He pulled off a suit well.

"You know you can't just do black on black every time, though, right?" she asked. "You've gotta switch it up.

"Why?" he asked. "I look great in black on black."

"You're boring," she rolled her eyes. "We'll talk about it later. So when does everything start?"

"Like an hour," Seth looked down at his watch. He was already at the house, in a rather fancy production trailer, waiting for the go-ahead to go inside. "Look at this thing."

He turned the screen so that she could see the board on the wall. It had each woman's picture with their name, age, and state underneath.

"Okay, Wyoming is definitely lying about her age," Sasha announced. "Twenty five my ass. She's thirty if she's a day."

"Ouch," he laughed, turning the screen back around.

"It's the truth," Sasha shrugged. "So how do you decide who gets cut?"

"There's a cocktail hour and then I come back here and deliberate with the producers."

"Why do you have to deliberate with other people?" Sasha asked. "Don't you just get to pick who you want and who you don't?"

"Not exactly," Seth sighed. "I have some say but they do to. They try to keep whoever they think will make for the best show. Apparently when there's less girls it's more up to me."

"Well, it's probably for the best for now," Sasha said. "You don't always pick winners."

* * *

Elle padded up the stairs to her room, ignoring the eyes on her back. It had been a very long and awkward day and she just wanted it to be over. News about her phone had spread fast and Harper and Jules were the only girls left who didn't seem to be freezing her out. She'd tried to steer clear of everyone, cameras included. She pizza with Jules and then most of her time in her room until Jim came in to tell her to start getting ready for filming that evening. Mia and Abigail were still fighting over the 'cattle' comment and there was some kind of fight going on between the girls from Colorado and Pennsylvania so there was no shortage of drama going on.

When she entered her room, using a towel to wring out her hair, she was startled to find Daisy sitting on the edge of her bed.

"Jesus, Daisy!" she clutched her chest. "That is not cool."

"Oh calm down, it's just me," Daisy laughed. "You need to be ready to shoot in thirty."

"I know, hence my just coming back from the shower. She smirked, "What do I wear for such an occasion?"

"A dress," Daisy said. "Not white. Like five of the girls are wearing white, it's going to look like a slutty baptism. Seth will be here soon. Some of the girls are planning on cornering him and telling him you have a boyfriend."

"I apologize for thinking you were crazy with that whole 'dog on a bone' comment," Elle shook her head, opening up her suitcase to look through all of the dresses she'd brought.

"I told you," Daisy sighed. "It always happens. Someone smuggles in a phone and then everything goes to shit."

"So then why did you let me have my phone?"

"Because I thought you would at least keep it hidden," Daisy laughed.

"So what do I do?" Elle sat beside her friend. She was supposed to go home early but not this early. If the other girls went running to Seth claiming she was a liar, she assumed she would be gone in a flash. "I mean, I can deny it but it may not work."

Daisy shrugged, "Just be cool. If he pulls you aside to talk, make it clear that you're not nervous, that you have nothing to hide."

"He's totally sending me home," Elle gave her friend an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry. I know you wanted me to stay a few more days."

"Don't be so sure," Daisy said. "Just talk to him."

* * *

Seth smiled at the women standing in front of him. They were all dressed up and, for the most part, they looked fantastic. Some of them were wearing a little too much makeup and some of them looked a little different in this light than he remembered but overall, it was a definite smoke show. He was beginning to hate this idea less.

"Ladies," Corey spoke when Jim signaled for him to start. "You all look lovely tonight."

"So do you," New York said loudly, earning herself a sharp look from Jim.

"For three of you, tonight will be the end of your time here in the house and your journey with Seth."

Seth bit the inside of his cheek from laughing. This was so dramatic.

"Before eliminations, we'll have a cocktail hour and for some of you, this will be your last chance to convince Seth that you're meant to continue on."

Seth wondered if it sounded to anyone else like Corey was telling them to pull him into a closet for a quickie.

"Enjoy the party," Corey said. "And remember to make the most of your time here."

"Perfect!" Jim clapped loudly, walking into the shot. "Okay people, we're shooting for two hours in here and then we go outside for eliminations. Amy, please make sure the ladies always have a drink in hand. I know it's a little warm in here, makeup, I need you to make sure we don't have any shiny faces. Corey, we want you mingling and talking with the girls, ask lots of questions. Got it?"

"Got it," Corey nodded. He looked over at Seth, patting him on the shoulder. "Good luck, my friend. Remember to make the most of your time here."

Seth laughed as Corey headed away.

"Seth, you're going to start over here with Madison…"

Seth tried to remember the names with the states. He was pretty sure Madison was Florida

"Kai"

 _Hawaii_

"And Sarah."

 _Massachusetts_? He was pretty sure it was Massachusetts. He seemed to remember her having a New England accent.

He walked over to the group of eager, smiling women, "Ladies, how are we doing? How's the house treatin' you?"

"It's interesting, that's for sure," Kai smiled. She had been the first girl Seth met. She was striking with long, curly black hair and honey colored, almond shaped eyes. She was wearing a skin tight strapless white dress that contrasted sharply with her smooth, olive skin.

"Good interesting or bad interesting?" he laughed.

"Both," Florida giggled. "But we're just glad we finally get to see you again."

She wrapped her arm around his and he was surprised by how tightly she gripped it.

"Well I'm glad to see you too," he responded.

"Excuse me," Seth turned, with Madison still attached to his arm, and saw Connecticut. They should really have to wear name tags if he was eventually supposed to learn their names.

She smiled, "I'm sorry to interrupt but I just really want to talk to you about something and I don't think it should wait."

"He's talking to us right now," Madison chirped.

"Can you just wait on the drama for like five minutes?" Kai asked.

"Drama?" Seth looked between the two of them.

"This will be quick," Connecticut insisted. "I just need to talk to you in private."

"O..kay," he said, untangling his arm from Madison's. Connecticut led him through the groups of women and staff to the doors leading to the pool area. They walked just outside the doors with a cameraman right at their heels.

Seth closed the doors behind them and turned to her, "Is everything okay…?"

She seemed to see that he was searching for her name so she spoke, "Emily."

"Right," he snapped his fingers. "Is everything okay?"

"I just need to talk to you about Elle," the young woman explained.

"What about her?" Seth asked, hoping and praying it wasn't that she was a psycho. He really, _really_ didn't want her to be crazy.

"She kept her cell phone," Emily answered, clearly upset. For a moment Seth had absolutely no clue why that mattered and then he remembered Jim telling him that the girls had no access to their phones. He didn't get why but it was a thing.

"Okay," he said, not seeing the big deal. It was against the rules, he guessed, but it couldn't hurt anyone.

"All of the rest of us gave ours up," Emily continued. "Those are the rules. But she didn't. I think there's a reason for that."

"And I assume you're going to share this reason with me."

"She has a boyfriend," Emily declared. "Mia and I confronted her about it. We told her we'd let it go if she let us look through her phone and she wouldn't. She called us crazy bitches and stormed off like a child."

Seth winced, "Well…calling you names isn't great but…don't you think it's a little weird that you ganged up on her and demanded to see her phone?"

She looked offended at his suggestion, "I am just trying to make sure that everyone is here for the right reasons. I'm trying to look out for _your_ best interest.

"And I appreciate that," he smiled, reaching out and touching her hand. "I just don't want you guys attacking each other. She shouldn't have called you what she did but her wanting to have her privacy doesn't automatically mean she's lying."

"She's hiding something," Emily insisted. "I can feel it."

"Listen," he took her hand in his, looking her in the eye. He needed her to bring it down. "Thank you for bringing this up to me and for feeling so passionately about all of this. Just…maybe try and focus more on what you're here for and don't worry so much about why someone else is here. It'll all work itself out, I promise."

He smiled at her and he could see her melting. Her shoulders relaxed and her cheeks flushed.

"You're right," she smiled. "I'm here for you."

"That's what I want to hear," he smiled. "Come on, let's go back inside and enjoy the party."

He led her back inside and was immediately caught by Sarah and Madison again.

An hour into the party, no less than 4 other women had approached him with the intent of dropping the bomb about Elle having her cell phone. At one point, even Corey came to tell him he was sick of hearing about it. The only woman who didn't seem intent on talking his ear off was Elle. He hadn't spoken to her at all, he'd barely even seen her and she was difficult to miss. He scanned the crowd while one of the production assistants was making some adjustment to his mic pack. He found her quickly, standing with Kentucky and Texas. He noticed that she wasn't really talking, just listening as the other two women talked animatedly on either side of her. She occasionally took a very small sip from the drink in her hand, her eyes occasionally scanning the room. She looked amazing in a dark red dress that was cut low in front and hugged her tightly down to her knees. Her dark hair was all pulled away from her face in a ponytail and her lips were the same color red as her dress. As she was looking around again, she caught him staring and gave him a small smile. Then Kentucky seemed to ask her a question and she returned her attention to her roommate. Once the assistant told him he was good to go he headed for her. He took a long route so that he was able to come up behind her instead of barging through the other girls.

He softly touched her arm and she turned, smiling up at him, "Hey, fancy meeting you here."

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" he asked, offering her his arm. She looped her arm through his, allowing him to lead her away from the group, toward the doors he'd gone through earlier with Emily. He noticed once again how good she smelled. It was something light but very enticing.

They walked quietly together and Seth found himself leading her to the chairs they sat in during the pool party. She smoothed her dress when he sat and he smiled at her, "You look beautiful tonight."

"Just tonight?" she teased. "You look good too. I like the suit on you."

"I figured you'd like it," he smirked. "My name isn't anywhere on it."

"That must be what it is," she smirked.

"Listen, I wanted to talk to you about something that a couple of the girls have brought up," he began.

"I think I have a pretty good idea of what it is," she winced.

"Do you want to tell me what's going on then?"

She sighed, "I managed to stow my phone away. One of the girls found it and now it's become this huge thing. I never meant for it to be such a big deal."

"Why did you keep it?" he asked. Jim had told him to make sure to ask that.

"Because it felt weird giving it up," she admitted. "It's…kind of scary being sequestered away in this house with no TV, no phone, no communication with the outside world."

"This whole thing is pretty weird, to be honest," Seth chuckled. "I get it. I wouldn't like being in your position either. It's just…these are the rules and we have to go by them, you know?"

"I know," she nodded, looking down at the arm of her chair. She turned her eyes back up to him, "I'm sorry."

"You don't need to be," he assured her. "You think you can give the phone up now…for me?"

"For Seth Freakin' Rollins?" she smirked. She playfully rolled her eyes, "I guess I could do that."

He laughed, standing up and holding out his hand. She took it, standing with him.

"That's what I wanted to hear," he wrapped his hand around her smaller one and started walking back toward the pool doors.

"That's it?" she asked. "You don't want me to go unlock it for you so you can look through everything on it?"

"I heard about that," he said. "And they shouldn't have confronted you that way but…could you maybe try not to call any of the other girls crazy bitches?"

"I will try my best," she squeezed his hand. "It's just been an intense couple of days."

"I'm sure it has," he laughed. "Hopefully you're willing to stick it out a little longer."

"I am," she smiled. "And thank you, for talking to me instead of just assuming the worst."

"I want to do all of this right," he assured her. "And if the tables were turned, I'd want you to talk to me first."

"I can assure you, if you do something questionable, I'll come talk to you," she smiled.

He laughed, holding the door open for her, "Deal."

* * *

Elle was glad to be in the back row for eliminations. Florida was in front of her and she was so short that Elle was able to take off her heels and still be seen over the other girl's head. They were supposed to be starting soon but Jim was freaking out about something with the lighting and then Texas had insisted that her hair needed to be fixed, then all of the other girls wanted touch ups and next thing Elle knew, they'd been delayed 40 minutes. Now, Corey was standing with Seth and a small table that had a jewelry bar with necklaces hanging from it.

"Elle, put your shoes back on," Jim instructed. "We're rolling in 10."

Elle rolled her eyes but stepped back into the shoes, crossing her arms in protest. Jim bugged her to no end.

"Thank you," he said, dripping with snark, and she gave him a sweet smile in return.

"Ladies," Corey began. "Seth will call you up one by one. If your name is not called, then unfortunately, your time in the house is over and I have to ask you to say your goodbyes. Best of luck to all of you."

Some of them were practically shivering with excitement. Kentucky was beside Elle looking incredibly nervous. Elle nudged the redhead with her elbow and gave her a smile, mouthing _It's okay. You're good._

Kentucky smiled, though she looked unconvinced. If either of them was going home, it was Elle. Her phone had been the talk of the cocktail party. She knew the girls had been bursting at the seams to tell Seth about her. It would've been upsetting if she wasn't there as a favor to Daisy. As it stood, it was pretty much all true. Still, she was fairly certain that after all the drama it had caused, Seth was going to cut her loose. Which was fine, she'd gotten paid for a few days at least.

"I just want to say that I don't want to hurt any of you and if I don't call your name, I'm sorry. It just means that I didn't get enough time with you," Seth said.

Elle was impressed with his ability to come across as so sweet and boyish sometimes and so cocky and macho at others. She was sure it made him good at his job.

He called Kai first, which was no surprise.

Mia was next and Elle didn't even bother to hide her eye roll. It would probably make for a good shot anyway.

"Harper," he smiled at Kentucky and Elle smiled happily. As he continued, the girls who hadn't been called seemed to be getting more and more tense. Connecticut was shooting daggers Elle's way as if this was somehow her fault. When Abigail was called, Elle made sure to look right at Mia.

"Ladies, we only have two necklaces left," Corey announced as if they weren't all well aware of that fact. Elle looked around for Daisy but she didn't see her friend anywhere.

"Emily."

Emily practically skipped up to Seth. He smiled at her, fastening the necklace around her neck, "I'm glad you care so much just remember what I said earlier. You don't have to worry about anyone but yourself."

"I know," Emily nodded before happily walking back to the front line.

Elle finally caught sight of Daisy and wasn't looking when Seth spoke again.

"Elle."

Elle snapped her head forward, confused, "Me?"

"Yeah, you," Seth laughed, pointing at her and beckoning her forward. Jules moved aside so that Elle could walk over to him.

He reached for her hand and she gave it to him, figuring he was just going to single her out when he sent her home. She'd seen that done before when someone caused a big stir.

"There are rumors spread about me every day," Seth said. "And I'm not exactly known for playing by the rules. So I think I have a pretty good idea of how you're feeling right now."

He couldn't possibly but it wasn't necessary to say that out loud.

"I'm choosing to trust you, and I hope you learn to trust me too," he smiled, picking up the last necklace. "Will you stay in the house?"

Elle could hear whispering behind her and put on a big smile, nodding, "Of course."

For one more episode, sure, why not?

The chain was long enough for him to slip the necklace over her head and when he did his fingers brushed the side of her neck. They were warm and a little rough and she found herself suddenly aware of how close he was to her. She took a small step back, "Thank you."

"Thank you," he smirked and Elle took a deep breath, turning and heading back to the line. Colorado, Massachusetts, and Wyoming were going home. After everyone said their goodbyes, they all had to stay around and film individual reactions to the elimination ceremony. Elle could hear Mia talking about how she didn't understand Seth keeping her. She was going to have a hard time doing what Seth asked and not calling her a bitch again before she went home.

Daisy came over and grabbed her hand, "You were great. You looked so surprised."

"I was surprised," Elle laughed. "These girls think I'm the devil because of my phone and they couldn't stop talking about it."

"You are going to have to give me your phone," Daisy explained.

"I thought that might happen," Elle pouted. "I guess I can go a couple days without it. The next elimination is Friday, right?"

An odd look flashed across Daisy's face but it was gone before Elle could really decipher it.

"Yes, next elimination is Friday," Daisy answered. "Everything we've shot so far is being edited into a special that will air on Friday. Then, what we tape Thursday and Friday will be the first official episode that goes up on Monday night. Their editors are insanely good. I want to steal them but they already warned us not to try."

"I can make it to Friday phoneless," Elle said.

"I bet you can," Daisy smirked.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Oh don't think I haven't seen you flirting your ass off with Seth."

"I'm supposed to flirt, Daisy. That's why you brought me here," Elle reminded her.

"I know," Daisy smiled. "It just seems like it's coming very _naturally_ for you."


	6. The First Challenge

_Thursday…_

"Wakey, wakey, eggs and bakey."

Elle pushed up her sleep mask, narrowing her eyes menacingly at Harper and Jules. She'd tried to be nice when they came into her room first thing in the morning talking. She managed to fall back to sleep so no harm, no foul. Now, they had come back and pulled off her blanket and she was primed to murder them both.

"Girl, you better calm down," Jules laughed, obviously not intimidated.

"It's almost 9:30," Harper said, though she at least looked somewhat frightened.

At least her damn hair was dry.

"Do I look like I care what time it is?" Elle asked disdainfully.

"Come on, grumpy cat," Jules was completely unaffected. "We're going to work out."

"You woke me up to go work out?" Elle stared. "Get out of this room. Right now."

Elle didn't hate working out but she loved her sleep more.

"You are a cranky bitch in the morning," Jules shook her head.

"Yes," Elle nodded. "Never said I wasn't."

"Let's just go eat breakfast then," Harper suggested. "Abigail's cooking."

Elle was still annoyed but they'd already learned that Abigail was the best cook in the house so if she was making breakfast, Elle was going before it was all gone.

"Fine," she threw off her covers. Jules laughed, pushing her toward the door and Harper closed the door behind them. She'd grown very worried about people going into their room after Phonegate. They filed into the kitchen where Abigail greeted them warmly. She'd gotten over her anger with Elle for announcing the cattle comment and focused all of her ire on Mia. Elle still felt awful about it but they talked after elimination and Elle apologized profusely. Abigail swore she wasn't holding any grudge.

Elle set about making mimosas that were really just champagne with a splash of juice. The four of women sat around the kitchen island and chatted as they ate. More girls started to trickle downstairs and make themselves plates of the delicious breakfast. Elle felt eyes on her while she was talking to Katie, from Michigan, so she turned, finding Louisiana, another whose name she didn't know, looking away quickly. Elle rested her chin on her hand and stared at the other girl, waiting for her to look again. She'd noticed her staring the night before as well. She knew it wouldn't take long and tapped the nails on her other hand against the marble countertop. Within a few seconds, the eyes came back to her. Elle raised her eyebrows, waiting for the other woman to say something.

"I'm just really surprised that Seth let you stay," she said, looking dumbfounded. "It doesn't make any sense to me."

"Well, then I guess I'm glad you don't make the decisions around here," Elle responded.

"Be nice!" Harper whispered harshly, elbowing her in the side.

"I am being nice," Elle whispered back.

Harper gave her a look so stern Elle had flashbacks of her mother. Rolling her eyes, Elle turned to Louisiana, "I'm sorry you feel that way. The decision wasn't up to me so if you have a grievance, you've gotta take that up with Seth."

"I will, don't worry," the other woman smiled. "If you even make it past the first challenge."

Elle turned back to Harper, "See? That's why I'm not nice."

"Oh, here we go," Jules spoke into her coffee mug and Elle followed her eyes to Mia and Emily breezing into the room dressed to the nines. Mia was wearing a silk slip and matching robe. And marabou feather slippers.

Fucking Marabou feathers? Was this girl even a real person?

Emily looked just as overdone in a dark blue silk romper with black lace trim and a black robe.

Elle hadn't even looked in the mirror when the girls woke her up. She was still in her mermaid shirt with no pants on and her hair was held back by her sleep mask.

"Do they know something we don't?" Elle asked Jules in a stage whisper.

Jules laughed, "They must."

"We know that we're always on camera," Mia snipped. "Clearly you don't."

Elle was not insecure about her looks, even first thing in the morning. Sure, she had her bad days and she didn't think she was perfect but she knew she was hot and she wasn't afraid to admit it.

"I think I'm doing just fine," Elle shrugged. "And I didn't have to wake up early and spend two hours getting ready."

Her comment clearly hit Mia, whose top lip flinched a fraction. The blonde quickly shook it off, shooting Elle a pithy smile, "So, did you call your boyfriend last night and let him know you'll be home sooner than you thought?"

Elle bit back a comment about calling Mia's dad instead and went back to eating her breakfast, deciding not to acknowledge her any longer. Mia glared for a few more seconds before going to the refrigerator with her minion at her heels.

"You two are gonna fight before we leave this house," Jules quietly snickered. "I swear."

Elle took a bite of eggs, "I wouldn't give her the satisfaction."

"Good morning beautiful ladies."

Elle's level of annoyance rose when she heard Jim's voice behind her. She also found herself wishing she'd put on more clothes.

"Your first challenge takes place this morning," Jim explained as they all turned their attention to him. "I'll need a few of you to head into the living room. How about Mia, Emily, and…Alice."

Elle watched as Frick and Frack perked up along with Louisiana. Teacher's pets.

"The TV will come on with a message from Seth. Act surprised when it starts and call the rest of the girls into the room. He will give you a clue about the challenge. Then you'll have 90 minutes to get ready."

"Some of us may need more time than that," Emily's expression was smug as she looked over at Elle.

Elle responded by scratching an imaginary itch on her nose with her middle finger.

"I saw that," Jim pointed at her.

She smiled at him and he waved for the trio he'd indicated to make their way into the living room, telling the rest of them to go back to what they were doing. They had to pretend he hadn't been there so that the editing team could easily cut around him. Elle finished off her mimosa, wondering what was in store for them for this challenge. Daisy hadn't given her any clues.

When Emily ran into the kitchen, saying they had a message from Seth, Harper excitedly grabbed Elle's arm, yanking her off of her stool and pulling her toward the kitchen.

"Ladies," Seth's face appeared on their 50 inch Smart TV. "I've had a great time getting to know all of you this week. I've learned that Harper knows how to build the perfect shoe. Abigail has a horse named Cupid. Alice works on Bourbon street and Elle bleeds Cubbie blue."

Jules bumped her arm and Elle tapped her fingers against her bottom lip, trying to tamp down the smile that threatened to appear. She didn't know what she was smiling about. It was probably just the part of her that liked being the center of attention. She was an actress after all.

"So now I'd like to know how well you know me," Seth continued. "Meet me outside in the back yard and we'll find out. If you don't have any of the answers I'm looking for, then there's only _one word_ to describe you…"

Seth laughed as the video ended and Elle's eardrums were assaulted with shrieking from at least 3, maybe 4 of the girls. Jules was standing with her mouth hanging open, her big emerald eyes bugging out of her head.

"What is happening?" Elle asked loudly. "What is this collective madness?"

"You don't know?" Harper stopped bouncing to grab Elle by the shoulders. She was such a grabby person.

"Clearly I don't."

"Enzo and Cass!" Harper exclaimed. "Enzo and Cass are here!"

Elle looked around and was relieved to see Abigail and a few others looking just as confused as she felt. Jules was still paused with her jaw dropped. Elle snapped her fingers in front of the New Yorker's face.

"Enzo is her favorite," Harper laughed. "She'll be alright."

"I hope so," Elle said, still confused. She grabbed the silent woman's hand, "Come on honey. Let's change your batteries and get you working again."

* * *

"What in the hell are you wearing?" Seth looked up when Enzo walked into the production trailer. He was clad in a leopard print suit with a black shirt underneath and a bright red bow tie. He looked ridiculous, even for Enzo.

"What? It's supposed to be a game show," the other man spoke in his gruff voice. He ran a hand over the front of his jacket, "I look amazing. What's your problem?"

Seth didn't know why he was surprised. Enzo's fashion sense was a constant source of locker room entertainment.

"Only problem is I told your wardrobe people they gotta cut these things off at the knees 'cause it's hot as hell out there," Enzo explained. "Somebody doesn't handle it soon I'm just gonna take my pants off."

"Keep your pants on man," Seth pointed.

"Listen, I know you don't wanna lose any of your girls to your boy," Enzo popped his collar. "But the python's gotta breathe."

"That inch worm is gonna scare the girls away," Seth laughed as Enzo plopped down on the couch.

"I'll try to keep it under control," Enzo offered. Cass came into the trailer, thankfully not wearing the same loud outfit as his counterpart. Carmella came in behind him, smiling. She came over and gave Seth a quick hug, "I'm just tagging along. Don't tell Sasha I'm here."

"I won't say a word," Seth assured her. "She'd kill us both."

"So how's it going?" Cass asked as Carmella returned to his side, tucking herself under his arm. "You falling in love yet?"

Seth chuckled, "I don't even know half of their names without the producers telling me."

"What do you call them?" Carmella questioned.

"Usually the state they're from," Seth explained. "If I can't remember that, I just avoid saying anything."

"So it's just like normal?" Enzo teased.

Seth laughed, ignoring his friend's comment, "Listen, I appreciate you guys coming out to do this."

It was nice having people that he actually knew around. If Corey wasn't the host, he would have been totally lost. So far, filming the show hadn't been _as_ bad as he expected but it still felt awkward and weird.

"Of course, we had to make an appearance," Enzo patted him on the shoulder. "We gotta make sure someone actually watches this thing."

"How is this gonna work?" Cass asked. "What do they get if they win the game show?"

"A date with Seth, stupid," Carmella laughed, slapping her boyfriend.

"That's pretty much what they get no matter what the challenge is," Seth admitted. "I'm always the prize."

"What's the date?" Enzo asked.

"A carnival," Seth answered. "I think they're just gonna get cheesier as this goes on."

"Well make sure you win them all somethin'," Enzo suggested. "They love that shit."

"I'm pretty sure he doesn't have to work that hard. They're here because they want to go out with him Zo," Cass reminded his tag partner.

"He is right though," Carmella piped up. "If you like any of them, win them something. We do love that shit."

* * *

Elle squinted against the sun as all of the women filed out to the backyard. She tried to wear her sunglasses but Amy ripped them off of her face the moment she walked out of her bedroom. She and Harper had managed to turn Jules into a functioning person again but Elle feared she was going to be lost to them when she saw this Enzo person.

Abigail walked over, stopping very close, "Do you have any idea what we're walking into?"

"Absolutely none," she shook her head. "You don't watch wrestling either?"

"My brother does," the Texan explained. "I've barely ever even seen it. I just went through a breakup and felt like doing something a little crazy."

"Wow, you really went big with the crazy thing, didn't you?" Elle laughed.

"Didn't we all?"

"Touché," Elle agreed. They were all in the same boat of insanity, regardless of their reasons.

When they rounded the corner to the backyard, they spotted giant inflated white letters spelling SAWFT. The grounds were set up for what looked like a game show. It reminded Elle of jeopardy.

Seth and Corey were standing at a podium. Corey was in a suit and she couldn't even begin to imagine how hot he must be. Seth was in a white Tapout t-shirt and black jeans.

"Good Lord, that is a fine man," Abigail swooned.

Elle nodded. He was okay; if you liked a perfectly sculpted body and a handsome, rugged face. She couldn't kid herself. He was hot.

"Welcome to your first challenge ladies," Corey spoke. "It's time to show The Architect how well you really know him."

Welp, Elle was definitely going to fail the first challenge unless all of the questions were about his favorite baseball team.

Seth and Corey explained that there would be 2 rounds of questions and the winning team from each round would face off in a final. The winners of the final would go straight from the house to a group date with Seth. Elle was paired with Jules, Emily, Alice, and annoyingly beautiful Kai. It would suck to be stuck with Emily but at least she knew Jules was actually a big fan. She was probably their best shot at winning.

"And as I'm sure you've already guessed," Seth smiled. "I brought along a couple friends to help us out."

Loud music started playing and a bunch of the girls started cheering again. Two men walked out from behind the giant letters. One enormously tall and the other in a leopard print tuxedo. The one in the tux had crazy wild blonde hair and ran in a giant circle, passing each team of women and high fiving them all before running back to the tall one, Seth, and Corey and doing a little dance.

He took the microphone from Corey, "My name is Enzo Amore and I am a certified G and a bonafide stud and you can't…teach…that. And this right here, this is Big Cass and he's 7 foot tall and you can't…teach…that."

Jules was squeezing Elle's wrist so hard her hand might turn blue.

"Bada boom, realest guys in the room!" Enzo yelled along with half of the women. "How you doin?!"


	7. The Big Reveal

If nothing else, Seth could say this show was giving him new experiences. He was sandwiched in a seat on a Ferris wheel between Kai and Emily with a camera attached to the front and cameramen riding the contraption above and below them to get all possible angles. Their team had won the game show, mostly thanks to Alice and Jules. Kai was actually the only one on her team who hadn't even attempted to answer a question. He'd secretly been rooting for their team. There were a few girls that he was hoping to get a little more time with. Kai was one of them.

"This is a gorgeous day," Emily smiled, resting her head on Seth's shoulder. "Isn't this fun?"

Seth actually thought it was way too hot outside but it wasn't necessary to argue so he just nodded. He wasn't having a bad time.

"If you think this is nice, I can't wait to get you to my hometown," Kai said, flipping her dark curls over her shoulder. "It's amazing."

Seth smiled, "We actually had a couple of shows in Ha-"

"I've been to Hawaii," Emily interrupted him. "I found it kind of…boring."

Kai arched a brow at the other woman's statement, "The tourist traps can be boring. It's a different experience being there with a local. I'm sure Seth will have a great time."

Seth was also sure he could have a good time although they may have been thinking about different types of activity.

Emily was tense, he could feel her muscles against his but she didn't say anything at first.

"Don't be insecure about it," Kai advised. "I'm sure Connecticut is nice too."

That was an unexpectedly catty comment. Kai struck him as a very level headed, easygoing woman. He was surprised that she was taking a dig at Emily. But Emily did start it. He wondered how many times over the course of this that he would be literally stuck in the middle of something like this.

The two women spent the rest of their descent sniping at each other and Seth couldn't have been happier when they reached the ground. Daisy was waiting patiently. She helped Kai off of the ride while Jim helped Emily.

"We need to get some footage of you with Elle," she explained and Seth perked up again. He was wondering where she was. He could remember the defeated look on her face when he and Corey detailed the rules of the game earlier. He wasn't surprised to find out that she didn't know a ton about him. She wasn't the only one. She'd actually gotten an answer though. There was a question about his favorite football team and she was the first to buzz in. She looked surprised at herself but she was adorably excited when Enzo confirmed her answer.

It was easy to spot her. She was standing near a basketball game looking around like she wasn't sure what she was supposed to be doing. She looked incredible in a red and white off the shoulder top and dark denim shirts. Her thick dark hair was held away from her face in a loose side braid.

All of the girls were beautiful but he seemed to always find himself drawn to her. He couldn't explain it. In a room with all of them, he felt like he could always spot her, like lighthouse in the water.

She looked up, smiling when she saw him coming.

"How's it going?" he smiled back at her.

"Awesome," she smiled. "I had cotton candy for the first time in years and now my heart is racing. I think I may have had a little too much."

"You do look flushed," he laughed. "You having fun?"

He was distracted when he felt the microphone pack strapped around him slide quickly down his back.

"Damn it," Daisy spat. She yelled for a tech to come fix it. "Don't talk to each other. We won't be able to use any of it."

Elle raised an eyebrow at him and he stuck his tongue out at her. She turned both of her eyes in toward her nose drawing a chuckle out of him.

She held a finger up to her lips, loudly shushing him.

He put his thumbs by his ears, holding up his hands and puffing out his cheeks. He stopped when the tech arrived, pulling up his shirt to fix the microphone.

"This is so romantic," he joked.

"It's working for me," she shrugged. "There's something Victorian about having 3 people standing between us on a group date."

She was trying to be witty but he all he could see was her eyes drifting down as his shirt crept up to reveal his abs. He certainly didn't mind the gaze. He worked hard to look the way he did.

Once the microphone issue was finished, Daisy directed them to walk around and play a few games, then they were going to film in the limo on the way back to the house. The producer hung back as they walked ahead, cameramen in tow.

Seth shot Elle a sly look, feeling particularly smug after catching her staring.

She seemed to know what he was smiling about and she shook her head, taking his wrist in her hand, "Come on Romeo. Let's go play this one. Maybe I'll win you something."

It was the watergun race where you shoot at a target and race little boats.

"Okay, I will play this with you but I have to warn you, I do not believe in letting the lady win," he cautioned.

He obviously caught her off guard and he liked the shocked smile that lit her face when she looked up at him.

"Okay," she laughed. "That'll make it even more fun when I beat you."

* * *

Elle tucked Mortimer, a neon green stuffed elephant, under her arm as she and Seth walked through the carnival. He won the adorable animal at the water gun race when he mercilessly beat her. She made him go another round and she came close but he still edged out the win. Handsome bastard.

"Don't get too attached," he teased. "That little guy is coming home with me."

"He's half mine, Rollins," she insisted. "You let me name him."

She was having much more fun at the carnival than she expected. Her earlier cotton candy induced jitters were gone and Seth was great company.

"I could potentially be persuaded into a shared custody agreement," he offered, reaching over and draping his arm over her shoulders, pulling her closer to his side. Elle's eyes went wide and she looked up at him but he wasn't looking at her. His eyes were searching for another game for them to play. His skin was warm against hers and he smelled like soap and the perfect amount of cologne.

"I'm putting my foot down on one thing with little Morty," Seth announced, drawing Elle's thoughts away from how good he smelled. "His last name is Rollins."

"Fine, but his name is Mortimer," Elle declared. "I don't want anyone calling my sweet little baby _Morty_."

He was a painfully cute elephant not Bette Midler's ex in The First Wives Club.

"You know one of the other girls actually started talking to me about how much she wants kids," Seth admitted, lowering his volume. "She even started talking about how it would work with me on the road."

"What did you say?" she laughed, stunned at the idea of someone bringing that up under these circumstances.

"I didn't really say anything," he admitted. "I looked over her shoulder and pretended someone was calling me away."

"I bet it was Madison," Elle guessed. The Florida native had talked about kids in the house several times.

He pressed his lips together and shook his head.

"It totally was, wasn't it?" she happily laughed,

"I can't confirm or deny that," he chuckled and she felt herself being pulled just a little closer to him. "You know, I think you're actually the only one who hasn't at least _tried_ to tell me their life story. All I really know about you is that you're gorgeous and you love the Cubs."

"Well thank you," she smiled sheepishly. "I just…I don't like to talk about myself a lot."

That was a lie. She loved talking about herself. But she had to be aloof. That was a part of the formula for getting kicked off of these shows.

"Well I want to know more," he said.

"Ooh, look!" she pointed, stopping in her tracks when she saw a dunk tank. She needed to do something to make this feel a little less like a date. She turned, smiling up at Seth, "I dare you to get up there."

"You're _daring_ me?" he smirked.

"I believe I made myself _very_ clear," she challenged him. She turned, walking toward the carnival operator. She smiled sweetly and asked the man if he would be willing to let Seth take the place of the clown in the tank. When he agreed, Elle turned triumphantly to her companion, "Now or never Rollins."

Seth shrugged, pulling up his shirt and taking off the mic pack.

"Guys," Daisy approached.

"Come on Daisy, let us have a little fun," Elle called to her friend.

"It'll only take a minute," Seth assured her. He turned and winked at Elle, "I won't even get my feet wet."

"Oh this is gonna be fun," Elle rubbed her hands together. She put Mortimer down, turning his face away, "I don't want him to see his father get embarrassed."

"I'm not worried," Seth said, climbing in to the tank and sitting on the small platform.

"You're seriously not even a little worried that I'll dunk you?" she asked, marginally insulted.

He let out that villainous laugh, "Do I look nervous?"

The operator gave her a ball and she stepped out of her red heels, narrowing her eyes at the target to make it look like she meant business.

"We don't have all day sweetheart," Seth taunted her. "The nice man's gonna want his balls back."

He broke her focus, making her laugh but she shook it off, getting in her best Jake Arrieta pitching stance. Then she took off, running to the target and pressing the button, dropping Seth into the water.

She saw his mouth drop into a shocked 'O' before he was dunked under the water and she doubled over with laughter. Once he recovered from the surprise, Seth stood, completely soaked, the water coming up to his waist. She walked up to the tank, still laughing as he fixed an angry glare on her.

She tapped on the tank and waved at him, "Shouldn't have doubted me, sweetheart."

He nodded, flipping his wet hair back. He turned to climb out of the tank and she was alarmed by how quickly and gracefully he moved. He was stalking toward her and she giggled at the trail of wet foot prints he left behind him. When he got close enough, she could see that he had evil intentions in mind but he was too close for her to get away.

"Mortimer, help!" she yelled, turning to run just before he wrapped his arms around her, soaking the back of her shirt and shorts. She squealed at the feeling of frigid cold and tried to get away but Seth held her tightly against his taut muscles.

"I'm gonna get you back for that," he chuckled, his mouth close to her ear.

"Is this not getting me back?" she laughed as he lifted her off of the ground with ease.

He laughed, "Not even close."

* * *

Seth was in his trailer, waiting for one of the producers to come and get him for deliberations. He'd taken a long shower to rid himself of dunk tank water after the carnival and he was deciding which suit to wear out of the ones wardrobe laid out for him. He wanted to just go with the black on black but he had Sasha's voice in his head calling him boring. He decided to go with the black suit and wear a white shirt instead. That would be different enough.

As he was putting on his shirt he heard his phone buzzing and picked up a Face Time call from Sasha.

"I've decided to forgive you," Sasha announced proudly.

"Were you still mad at me?" he laughed. "I had no idea."

"I just got a call from PR about filming an episode of your show," she beamed. "I am so excited."

"I figured you would be," Seth smiled. He had nothing to do with it but if his friend was happy, he was willing to take the credit.

"Hey Seth!" her husband Mikaze walked through the background, waving.

"He's happy about it too," Sasha said. "Now he doesn't have to hear about how mad I am at you. So tell me everything, how was the first challenge?"

"We did a trivia thing, testing how much they know about me," he explained.

"And how did they do?"

"They did great," Seth laughed. "It almost made me worry for my safety."

"Don't be stupid," Sasha said. "Everybody knows everything about you, including what you look like naked."

"Do you have to bring that up?" he winced.

"Every once in a while," she nodded. "Somebody has to keep you humble. So what are we thinking? Who's going home?"

"I have to pick 3," he explained. "Connecticut's gotta go. It seems like she's only here to fight with the other girls."

"And I'm sure you just _hate_ being fought over," Sasha rolled her eyes.

"I didn't say all that," he laughed. "I just don't want to deal with her specific brand of drama."

"Okay, that's one," Sasha said. "Who else?"

"I don't know," he answered. "I know who I want to _keep_ but I'm not sure if I should."

"Oh," Sasha looked intrigued. "What does _that_ mean?"

Seth knew if there was anyone who could help him figure this out, it was Sasha. She was taking this whole thing more seriously than he was anyway.

"Well," he sighed. "Here's the thing…"

* * *

"What do you think is takin' so long?"

Elle looked over at Kentucky, shrugging. She was wondering the same thing. After the last cocktail party, it had only taken 20 minutes for eliminations to start. Daisy said the deliberation was easy as pie. Elle spent almost the entire cocktail party helping Jules who'd grown very ill after eating hot dogs at the carnival. Poor girl really had a rollercoaster of a day.

They'd been waiting for over an hour while Seth made his decisions and the natives were getting restless. A very pale Jules had to have her mic taken off twice to go to the bathroom. Mia was complaining about needing something to eat soon and several of the girls were actually sitting on the floor because their feet hurt too much.

It couldn't have been that hard. He had to cut 3 women, two really since he had to cut Elle. She looked around the room, wondering who was causing the holdup. It definitely wasn't Madison; she'd clearly freaked him out. He was obviously keeping Kai and he'd be an idiot not to keep Harper. It wouldn't be Mia; the producers obviously loved how awful she was. Hopefully he'd at least cut Emily. Even though she was never going to make it far, she hated the idea of either of them outlasting her.

"Oh, there's Daisy!" Harper perked up.

"Our national nightmare is finally over," Elle threw up her hands. She was ready to get this over with, head back upstairs to say goodbye to her fantastic mattress and head home to her tiny apartment.

Daisy approached them looking very apprehensive. She stopped a few feet away from them, pushing her headset down to hang around her neck, "Hey Elle, I need to talk to you for a sec."

"Daisy, when are we getting this show on the road?" Abigail questioned. "If I don't get 8 hours of sleep, I may kill one of these girls."

"Don't make jokes like that. If you actually kill someone, we're all culpable now," Daisy deadpanned. "Elle?"

Confused, Elle picked up her shoes and followed Daisy past the cameras and around the side of the house. Her friend was being oddly quiet, walking with her hands in her pockets. Elle knew Daisy well enough to know that she was nervous but she couldn't imagine why. When she was satisfied with how far they'd gone, Daisy turned around, "We're about to get the ceremony started."

"Good because I don't think Abigail is joking about killing one of them," Elle laughed. "Why'd you need to tell me this over here?"

"Turn your mic off," Daisy instructed, running a hand through her hair. She always played with her hair when she was anxious.

"Daisy, what's going on?" Elle twisted the knob on the top of her mic pack. "What was taking so long with the deliberation? You guys aren't trying to make him keep Florida are you? She freaks him out."

"He wants to keep you," Daisy blurted.

"What?" Elle stared. She heard what her friend said but she felt extremely stupid for a moment because she didn't get why Daisy was telling her this. "What do you mean he wants to _keep_ me?"

"I mean he wants to keep you," Daisy repeated. "He wants you to stay."

"W-why?" Elle didn't know how else to respond. She'd tried being aloof, avoiding his personal questions. People in the house were still talking about her and her stupid cell phone and her having a boyfriend. She had drama with Mia. "He has multiple reasons to send me home."

"Well apparently he doesn't agree," Daisy shrugged. "That's what was taking so long. I tried convincing him it was a bad idea but he's not budging…He likes you."

"That's nonsense. He doesn't like me," Elle insisted. "He doesn't even know me, And I don't like him. I mean, he seems like a nice person but you know what I mean."

Daisy scratched the top of her head, taking a deep breath. There had to be more to this. Daisy knew the plan was for her to leave so why was she even telling her about the deliberation?

"Daisy…" Elle eyed her friend, scrutinizing her body language. "What are you not saying?"

Daisy took a deep breath, clasping her hands together, "Okay, so here's the thing…I want you to do it."

"Exc _use_ me?" Elle's eyes opened wide. "Daisy Jimenez, have you lost your mind?"

"I get a _huge_ bonus if one of my girls makes it to the final 2," Daisy explained. "I figured that once you left, I would throw all my eggs in on Harper and Abigail but…Elle, after watching you two on that date today and seeing the way he pushed to keep you… _you_ are my best chance."

Elle stared at her friend. She couldn't think of anything else to do. Maybe if she gave Daisy the look her mother always gave her when she was doing something stupid, her friend would snap back to reality.

"It's not just the bonus," Daisy tried to reason with her. "I could get a promotion. This could be great for me."

Elle reached out, placing steadying hands on her dear friend's shoulders, "Daisy…I love you. But I am not staying here for you. That is insane."

"Okay, you don't have to win but…just stay a little longer," Daisy said. "It does nothing but help me."

"It does a few other things D," Elle said, counting on her fingers. "It affects my job, my _boyfriend_ who you seem to have forgotten. It also affects these other girls who actually seem to think that they're going to find true love here. And Seth. I can't actually tell how seriously he takes this thing but…I don't want to keep lying to him. It feels uncool. He's…not a jerk."

"You _like_ him," Daisy pointed.

"No I don't," Elle scoffed. "Do not try and project some weirdness onto me to get me to stay here."

"I'm not projecting," Daisy said. "You are clearly attracted to him."

"I'm a human woman, of course I'm physically attracted to him," Elle whispered harshly. "Look, even if I wanted to do this, I can't. I have to get back to work."

"What if I could work something out with Poppy?" Daisy offered. "We could shoot a date at the restaurant, Poppy _loves_ publicity."

Elle put her hands on her hips, trying out the look again.

"Just think about it," Daisy pressed her hands together. "I will understand if you say no but he's probably gonna call your name."

Someone was calling Daisy's name over her headphones and she put them back on her ears, turning her microphone back on, "I'll be right there. Tell everyone we're starting in 10."

"Just consider it," Daisy squeezed Elle's hand before rushing off.

Elle stared after her friend, her head spinning from what she'd just thrown at her. Maybe she could get Abigail to turn her hangry rage on Daisy.

* * *

"Ladies," Corey stood beside Seth as they finally begin the necklace ceremony. "Three of you will be leaving us tonight. If Seth calls your name, please come forward and accept your necklace. If your name is not called, I'm afraid you'll have to head inside and pack your belongings."

Seth's eyes scanned the group, 3 rows of beautiful women. This whole thing still felt very foreign to him. He felt bad having to send any of them home but this was what he signed up for.

He picked up the first necklace and took a deep breath, "Kai."

Kai beamed with excitement and hugged Madison before rushing forward. Seth slipped the necklace over her head and she gave him a soft kiss on the cheek.

He called Harper next. The redhead had answered the most questions correctly on her team. Unfortunately, she was the only one on her team during the game who seemed to know anything about him.

As he continued to call names and hand out necklaces, his eyes drifted to Elle. She was in the back row standing between Harper and Alice. He could see her hand tapping against her thigh and with every name he called, it seemed to move faster. When he called Jules, she reached back to squeeze Elle's hand and the brunette barely reacted before giving her friend a weak smile. She seemed anxious and he wondered if it was because she wanted to stay or because she wanted to leave. He couldn't read her the way he could the other girls. That was part of why he wanted her to stay. She kept his interest.

Seth continued calling names until he had 2 necklaces left. 2 necklaces and 5 women.

"Emily," he forced a smile. Keeping her was a concession. He wanted to send her home but the producers liked how doggedly determined and prickly she was. She shot a smug smile to the other women before coming up to retrieve her necklace.

"Remember what I said before," he advised. "Focus on yourself."

"I remember," she smiled before returning to the line.

He picked up the necklace, toying with the key charm as he looked at each of the remaining women.

"Elle," he smiled.

Her eyes widened and her hand kept shaking but she didn't immediately move. Harper patted her on the back as she snapped out of whatever was holding her in place, moving toward him. She walked up to Seth with a nervous grin and he smiled, "Are you willing to stick around and keep me sane?"

She bit her bottom lip, looking down at the necklace and then back up at him. She took a slow, deep breath and then shrugged, "Sure. Let's do it."

* * *

Elle clenched her thumbnail between her teeth, looking around her darkened bedroom. She couldn't sleep. She'd tried to go to bed the moment she got out of her dress after elimination but she couldn't get her mind to stop racing. She should have been on her way home but instead she was sitting up in her bed with Harper snoring quietly in the bed beside hers. When Seth called her name, she had no plan. She just got so flustered standing there with him smiling at her. Then she thought of everything that Daisy said about how much this could help just blurted out the first thing that came to mind and, oddly enough, that was agreeing to stay. She didn't know how she was going to explain this to Ethan or to Poppy. She rubbed her face, knowing that sleep wasn't going to happen anytime soon. She crawled out of bed, tip toeing out of the room, quietly closing the door behind her. The cameramen were gone until the morning and it was an immense relief to be able to move freely without anyone tracking her or stopping her to strap a microphone on her. She considered stopping in the kitchen but decided that fresh air would help more than late night eating. She slipped out the doors to the pool area, keeping them cracked so that she could get back in without any trouble.

She jumped, gasping when she saw a figure sitting on one of the lounge chairs. The man moved, looking over his shoulder.

"Elle?"

"Seth?" she questioned when he stood up and faced her. "You scared the shit out of me."

"I'm sorry," he smiled apologetically.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, feeling uncharacteristically modest. She'd neglected to put on pants again. Fortunately, the shirt she wore stopped halfway down her thighs.

"I had to stay behind and film some stuff," he answered. "I figured you guys would all be asleep."

"Everyone else is," she admitted, crossing her arms. "I just couldn't sleep. Do I need to go back inside? Should we be talking?"

"You don't have to go anywhere," Seth laughed, putting his hands in his pockets. He'd taken off his suit jacket and the white shirt underneath fit him like a glove. "Are you okay? You seemed frazzled at the elimination ceremony."

"Do you find it as ridiculous as I do that they call it a ceremony?" she laughed.

"I do," he said, heading back to the lounge chair he'd vacated. She sat down on the next one, making sure to put her hands in her lap.

"All of this stuff is ridiculous," he divulged with a laugh. "I didn't even want to do this show. I make fun of my mom for watching The Bachelor."

"Why did you do it then?" she asked, curious. She didn't understand why he was revealing this information but he seemed to need to share.

"Honestly?"

"Obviously," she gestured for him to continue.

"I could have gotten into some trouble if I didn't do it," he explained. "And it wasn't worth the fight so I just agreed."

"Should you be telling me this?" she leaned forward.

"I probably shouldn't," he laughed as if the realization had just hit him.

"Don't worry. It can be our little secret," she offered, almost relieved to hear that he wasn't seriously invested.

He nodded, turning to her with a Cheshire grin, "Like your boyfriend?"

Elle gawked at him, "What?"

Alarm bells were going off in her head and she stared questioningly at him.

He chuckled at her response, "You are the only one of the girls who didn't go through their Instagram and scrub it clean of any other guys."

The idea never occurred to her. She wasn't supposed to be there long enough for it to matter anyway.

"The phone thing was also kind of a giveaway," he added.

She blinked at him, totally lost. He didn't seem the least bit upset about her lying to him. In fact, he seemed to be getting a kick out of it.

"Why did you pretend to believe me?" she asked.

"Because these filming days are long and annoying and of all the girls in the house, you are the one I like talking to the most," he answered. "Plus, it doesn't hurt that you are stunning."

She blushed, shaking her head, "I don't get it…Why keep me when you know I have a boyfriend?"

"It's pretty simple," he said, picking up his suit jacket and standing up. "I'm hoping I can change that."

Elle felt her jaw drop and her brain wasn't firing the signal to close her mouth.

"I should let you get to bed," Seth said, flashing her the most charming smile she may have ever seen. He looked supremely confident. "I'll see you in a few days."

Elle watched his back as he walked away. Her mind was blown. She'd agreed to stay without any plan for her real life and now Seth knew about her boyfriend. And even more, he didn't care.

She walked slowly back to her bedroom, trying to make heads or tails of what was happening. She crept back into the room, closing the door quietly behind her.

"Elle?" Harper stirred. Her accent was even heavier in her half-awake state.

"Yeah, it's just me. Go back to sleep."

"Are you okay?" Harper yawned.

Elle pulled back her covers, slipping under the sheets, "I'm…not entirely sure."


	8. The Games Begin

Elle fiddled with the edge of her bedspread, staring up at the ceiling. She'd been awake for twenty, maybe thirty minutes already. When she woke, she half expected to be back in her apartment, the events of the last week having been a long fever dream, but that wasn't the case. She was still in the crazy house. Harper slept soundly in the bed beside hers.

And she was still competing for Seth

Charming, handsome, carved from stone Seth. The man who knew about her boyfriend and flat out told her that he didn't care.

She pressed her fingertips over her eyes, wiping away the image of his sly smile.

For the first and probably last time, Elle was the first girl awake in the house. It was eerily silent, not even a cameraman tailing her yet. Embracing the peace and quiet, she tip toed down the stairs and made a mimosa before heading back upstairs and taking a long, hot shower.

Once she was dressed, she set off in search of Daisy. They had a lot to talk about.

She searched all over the house but couldn't find her friend anywhere. The only producer that she could locate was her absolute least favorite. She rolled her eyes dramatically, figuring if she did it before she talked to him then maybe she wouldn't do it in his face.

"Jim," she crossed her arms, reluctantly walking to him. "I need Daisy."

"Good morning to you too Elle," he smiled. "Is there something I can do for you?"

"You can tell me where to find Daisy."

"She's around," he shrugged. "I'm not sure where. If you need something, I'm sure I can take care of it."

"I doubt that," Elle responded quickly. Daisy warned her about Jim's tendency to try and poach other producers' girls. "Can you radio her?"

"If you insist," Jim sighed, calling for her on his headset.

A few uncomfortable moments later, Daisy rushed into the kitchen, "Sorry, I'm late. Getting set up for the next challenge."

Elle stood impatiently as Jim pulled Daisy aside to ask her who knows what. She tapped her fingers against her bottom lip, raising her eyebrows until she finally caught her friend's eye.

"You need me?" she questioned.

Elle nodded, "Sure do."

"We need to get your mic on for the day," Jim pointed. "They're already starting on the other girls."

"Then finish the other girls first," Daisy shot him a stern look. "We'll be right back."

Elle followed behind the woman who got her into this madness, resisting the urge to turn and stick her tongue out at Jim.

"Thank you so much for agreeing to stay," Daisy took off her headphones. "Seriously, you are doing me such a big favor. And I talked to Poppy and-"

"Seth knows," Elle cut her off. She didn't want to talk about Poppy. "About Ethan."

"How did you find that out?" Daisy stared.

"Excuse me?" Elle stared back. That was not the question she expected. She smacked her in the arm, "You _knew_? And you didn't think to give me a warning?"

"I just found out this morning," Daisy explained. "He pulled me aside at our meeting and told me. I tried to deny it but that didn't work very well since _someone_ didn't make their Instagram private."

"Okay, I'm sorry but I did not think I needed to do that," Elle pointed. "I was only supposed to be here for a couple days."

"I made it private after he told me," Daisy informed her. "We don't need his fans finding out as easy as he did."

That was probably a good idea.

"You didn't answer me, how did you find out that Seth knows? He just told me this morning."

"He was here last night," Elle admitted. "After elimination. I couldn't sleep. I walked down by the pool and he was there and he told me."

"You guys are not supposed to talk when we aren't filming," Daisy scolded.

"Well what was I supposed to do? Pretend I didn't see him?"

"Did he tell you why he kept you anyway?"

Elle laughed, "Because apparently he's not at all threatened by my having a boyfriend. He said he thinks he can change it."

Daisy's eyes widened, "Wow…That's actually sort of hot."

"What the hell Daisy?" Elle smacked her on the arm again. "It's not hot, you weirdo. It's…I have no idea what it is. It's very confusing."

"You don't think he may be right?" Daisy smirked.

"Are you kidding me?" Elle stared at her friend.

"We watched the footage from the carnival date this morning. The chemistry between you two is electric. The other producers are shitting bricks."

Elle didn't like the competitive glint in Daisy's eyes as she spoke.

"Well tell them not to worry too much about me," Elle advised. "My days are numbered, remember?"

* * *

"Well if it isn't the man of the hour."

Seth cringed at the sound of Charlotte's voice ringing out across catering. The casting special and the first episode of the show had officially aired on the network and now Seth couldn't seem to take five steps through the arena without someone stopping him. He had no idea his coworkers would be so fascinated by a reality show. He wondered if this was how the girls on Total Divas felt. Charlotte was seated with Sasha and they were both frantically waving him over. Seth sighed, resigned to his fate. He'd had to answer questions from people he didn't even like. He wasn't going to be able to avoid talking to his friends. They would have to give him a minute to grab some food. Then they could grill him all they wanted. He found Roman making himself a plate and recruited his friend to join him. Once he had a plate full of food and Roman in tow, he headed toward the firing squad.

Sasha stood up with a devious smile. She'd clearly been waiting all day for this.

"Roses are red," she recited. "Violets are blue. I'm here for-"

"That's enough," Seth stopped her. He never needed to hear that poem again. Dean had already done a dramatic reading of it on his voicemail.

"How on Earth did you get through that without laughing?" Charlotte questioned.

"Honestly, I just stopped listening," Seth admitted. "I didn't want to laugh at her."

"Look at you being a nice person," Roman patted him on the shoulder. "I'm proud of you."

"So I take it you're enjoying the show so far?" Seth asked.

"Enjoying isn't the word," Sasha said. "I am living for it. If I were single, I would ask Stephanie for my own show. I'd call it Battling for the Boss and the guys would all get a 'Boss' ring and it would be fabulous."

"Mine would be Courting the Queen," Charlotte beamed. "It would be a ratings powerhouse."

The girls looked expectantly at Roman and he stopped eating his food, shooting a questioning gaze of his own their way. He sighed when he realized that they were waiting for him to participate, "I don't know…Romancing Roman?"

"Too predictable," Charlotte shook her head in disgust.

"Taming the Big Dog," Sasha grinned. "There it is."

"Yes!" Charlotte gave her a high five. "You are a marketing genius."

"In another life, that would be my career," Sasha shrugged. "I told Stephanie she needs to get the merchandise people on Team Mia and Team Elle shirts right away."

"Oh I am totally Team Mia," Charlotte announced proudly.

" _What_?" Sasha stared. "What kind of monster would be Team Mia? The only correct choice is Team Elle."

Seth felt the corner of his mouth ticking upward. He was hoping Sasha would like Elle. When he called her for advice, he'd considered telling her the whole story; that he knew about Elle having a boyfriend but was immensely attracted to her and planning to take the risk. He chickened out, though, scared of being called crazy or stupid or both. Sasha didn't exactly pull her punches when it came to her opinion. Instead, he told her a watered down version of the story; that there was speculation in the house that she was hiding something but that he trusted that she was telling the truth. He didn't want Sasha's view of her to be colored by their less than conventional situation. When he told her the story, Sasha encouraged him to go with his gut. If he thought she was a liar then cut her. If he didn't, keep her. His gut told him that if Elle was serious about her boyfriend, she wouldn't have come on the show. It also told him that if he was going to continue with this ridiculous reality show, he wanted to do it with her around.

"I don't see it," Charlotte shook her head. "Elle seems like kind of an asshole to me."

"Why?" Sasha asked. "All she did was stand her ground and defend her friends when _Mia_ and her little lap dog were the ones being assholes."

Seth wasn't sure what his friends were talking about since he hadn't watched the show himself but it was interesting to hear their thoughts.

"What about when she said Mia and Emily were boring Seth right to their faces?" Charlotte countered. "Was that just standing her ground?"

"Well that was just funny," Sasha smirked. She pointed at Seth, "He went with her so obviously she wasn't wrong."

This time Seth knew exactly what they were talking about. The day of the pool party. Sasha was right, he couldn't even recall what Emily and Mia were talking to him about but he could remember just about every second that he spent with Elle. He had a _vivid_ memory of that bikini she was wearing.

"You're quiet over there," Seth looked at Roman. "Which team are you on?"

"I don't know if I like either one of them," Roman admitted. "Mia seems rude and I don't know about Elle and the whole cell phone/boyfriend thing."

"Those other girls are just being haters," Sasha waved. "They see that she's a threat and so they're attacking her and trying to turn him against her. That's how these shows work."

"They didn't make her break the rules," Charlotte chimed in. "You can't say that's not suspicious. Seth, I was so surprised you kept her."

"The boyfriend rumor is nothing to worry about," Seth assured her. "Elle and I cleared it up."

"See?" Sasha smiled. She patted Seth on the head, "He's not nearly as dumb as he looks."

"I don't know about all that," Roman laughed.

One of the PA's came over, informing Sasha and Charlotte that one of the agents wanted to talk to them. Both women were put out at having to end their conversation but they got up, gathering up their plates.

"Duty calls kids," Charlotte sighed. "You better do the right thing at the next elimination Seth."

"She means get rid of Mia," Sasha smiled, giving him a quick hug before she followed Charlotte away.

Seth smiled, shaking his head at his friends. That was easier than he expected. They didn't even ask him anything.

* * *

 _Tuesday morning…_

Elle lined up highball glasses and popped the cork on a bottle of Prosecco. Once again, she was on cocktail duty for the morning as Abigail made breakfast. Someone was always volunteering Elle to make cocktails. She wasn't the only girl in the house who'd worked behind a bar in the past so she assumed they picked her because she was heavy handed with the alcohol. She didn't mind at all. It was an easy job. The producers kept the house well stocked with booze and she liked tapping into her reserves of cocktail knowledge. She was just glad no one asked her to cook. Abigail was a master in the kitchen. She'd gotten up early that morning and made biscuits from scratch, now she was putting the finishing touches on gravy _and_ crepes.

"When all of this is over, will you come live with me?" Elle asked the Texan as she dropped one scoop each of lemon and blood orange sorbet into each glass.

"Of course I will honey," Abigail chuckled. "Me and Seth. We'll be one big happy polygamist family."

"I could be okay with that," Elle shrugged, pouring in the Prosecco. She used almost two bottles for the drinks and then shrugged, deciding to finish off the last bottle. There was no sense in putting it back in the refrigerator, it would just go flat. She helped Abigail set out plates and then took a seat at the kitchen island, tossing the bottle back and taking a sip.

"I'm starting to think you have a drinking problem Elle," Mia breezed into the kitchen with Emily in tow as usual.

Elle fixed her gaze on the other woman, setting the bottle down, "I don't yet but living with you may cause me to develop one."

"That's an incredibly insensitive thing to say," Mia scolded her. "You do understand that alcoholism is a real disease, don't you?"

Elle stared at her, thoroughly confused, "You literally just came in here and accused me of being an alcoholic and _I'm_ insensitive?"

"I've never seen you without a drink in your hand," Mia shrugged. "It was a genuine concern."

Elle sighed deeply. It was too early for this nonsense.

"Mia, I'm bored," she rested her chin on her hand. "Why don't you go back upstairs, come up with something better, and then we can fight this out later?"

She smiled at the pinched look that took over Mia's face. The ones who acted big and bad were always the easiest to rattle.

Daisy strolled into the kitchen, speaking into her headset. She looked back and forth between Mia and Elle and put her hand over her microphone, "Girls. Keep the claws away today please."

"Won't be a problem for me," Elle shrugged, happy to see her friend.

Mia rolled her eyes as she made herself a plate of food, cutting everything in half. Elle envied her self-control though she could stand to gain a few pounds.

Daisy had a quick talk with Abigail and then pulled Elle outside by the pool to talk. Elle hoped it was important because her breakfast was getting cold.

"I'm starting to think Seth is keeping me here in a house with her as punishment," Elle sat at the pool's edge, dipping her feet in.

"The fans are loving the beef between you two already," Daisy informed her. "At this rate, we may never let you leave."

"That is not funny," Elle splashed water at her. "What'd you want to talk to me about?"

"A couple things. First, you need to be careful of what you say. I heard Jim telling his girls to try and say things to make the rest of the girls look bad. He's hoping the editors will piece things together the way he wants."

"That explains a lot about the conversation I had this morning," Elle nodded, thinking back to the random accusation of alcoholism.

"Also, I stopped by your house to get some things you might need since you'll be here a little longer," Daisy explained. "And I talked to Ethan."

"What did he say?"

"Not much honestly," Daisy looked annoyed. "I told him you would be gone a little longer than we thought and he said okay. He knows you don't have access to your phone anymore. He said okay and asked me for my Hulu login."

"That's it?" Elle stared. She hadn't seen him in almost two weeks and he was thinking about streaming some TV show? Asshole.

"Maybe he's just processing," Daisy suggested halfheartedly.

Elle glared at her.

"Look, I'm trying to be nice here," Daisy shrugged. She wasn't Ethan's biggest supporter. "Don't worry too much about it."

Elle was about to tell her friend to change her Hulu password when something must have come through on the headset because Daisy had clearly stopped listening

"We've got to head back inside to start shooting," Daisy explained. "Let's go around the front."

As they walked, Elle questioned Daisy on what the challenge would be for the day but the producer wouldn't give up even the tiniest detail. What good was having a friend on the inside if she couldn't get any scoop?

Daisy hung back as she walked through the front door, noticing the rest of the girls had gathered in the living room. When Harper saw her she rushed over, sliding on the marble floor in her socks, and pulled her, stumbling, into the living room. She was stronger than she looked.

"There's another video message," Jules beamed excitedly.

"I gathered that," Elle nodded, turning her eyes to the TV. At least it would be something to do. She was starting to get stir crazy.

Seth's image appeared on the screen and that collective squealing that Elle loved so much reared its ugly head. She cringed at the sound.

"Ladies," Seth smiled. "It's time for all of you to get to enjoy one of my favorite things to do at home and on the road. Today, you'll be meeting me and a few of my friends for a special tournament. There is a catch though…Only half of you will be coming to see me. Who gets to go will be determined by a mini challenge. And if you're wondering who my friends are..there's a special hint for you in the kitchen."

The girls took off like runners out of the block and Elle felt a painful pop as someone stomped right on her bare foot.

"Son of a bitch!" she yelled, hopping on one foot. She was almost knocked over by another blonde blur and she hobbled out of the path until the rest of the girls were gone. Sharp pains shot through her foot and she looked over at the cameraman a few feet away from her with a camera trained on her, offering no help whatsoever. This was not one of the guys from the first day. One of them would have helped her.

Realizing no one seemed to know or care that she'd been injured in the stampede, Elle hopped into the kitchen, stopping when she reached the doorway. It was absolute pandemonium. The girls were all shrieking and yelling unintelligible noises. There were cereal boxes everywhere. Jules was kneeling on the counter actually throwing handfuls of the breakfast food at everyone. Even stranger, no one seemed upset about it. The initial pain in her foot subsided enough for her to limp into the kitchen, She picked up one of the boxes, trying to figure out what all the fuss was about. People didn't normally lose their shit over Lucky Charms.

"What the hell are Booty-O's?" she asked aloud as she looked at the colorful box.

"Ladies, ladies," Corey walked into the room, laughing as the cereal whizzed past his face. He caught some, popping it into his mouth before continuing, "I take it some of you figured out the hint."

"New. Day. Rocks," Jules started chanting and clapping. A few of the other girls joined in and Elle met Abigail's gaze, smiling when she saw an expression that reflected her own confusion. She was beginning to feel like she'd joined a cult.

"That's right," Corey laughed. "And the cereal that you see is not just a hint at the guests some of you will meet later today…It's your mini challenge."

"What does that mean?" Kai questioned, picking bits of cereal from her thick, dark hair.

"We're gonna have ourselves a cereal eating contest," Corey explained. "You'll be split into two teams and each of you will have to eat a heaping bowl of Booty-O's, one at a time. The team that finishes first will go on to meet Seth and The New Day for the main challenge. The losing team won't see Seth until the cocktail party before elimination."

Corey led them all outside and Elle limped at the rear of the pack. Jim split them into teams. Elle, Abigail, Harper, and Mia were teamed with Kayla, Emma, and Brittany. Team 2 consisted of Jules, Emily, Kai, Katie, Alice, Crystal, and Isabelle.

On the back patio, there were two long tables with seven gigantic bowls of cereal.

"Oh that is not happening," Elle shook her head. She had a thing about eating contests. They grossed her out. The idea of eating herself sick with sugary cereal was incredibly unappealing. Plus she had Mia on her team so it was a win-win; if she lost, Mia lost too.

"Okay everybody get together," Harper gathered the team. "This is gonna be great. There's no way we can lose this."

"I don't know why you think that," Elle crossed her arms.

"Emily told me she has a hyper reactive gag reflex," Mia blurted.

"What?" Elle stared at the blonde. " _Why_ would she tell you that?"

"I'll go first," Harper volunteered. "I won a wing eating contest last year. I can crush this cereal."

"Are we just going to ignore that weird gag reflex thing?" Elle questioned.

"It came up in conversation," Mia shrugged. "Can you just focus?"

"Well it didn't take you long to sell her out, did it?" Elle asked.

"That's not important right now," Mia rolled her eyes. "She's not on our team."

A surprisingly assertive Harper assigned them an order, putting Elle at the end.

"You'll bring it home for us," Harper smiled.

 _Like hell._

The producers had the girls line up behind the bowls and Elle frowned apprehensively down at the bowl of cereal. If that wasn't bad enough, Mia was standing beside her and Emily directly across from her.

Corey blew a whistle and Jules and Harper started off for their respective teams. Elle made a face but couldn't seem to look away. Harper wasn't kidding when she said she could crush this challenge. She flew through her bowl like it was nothing and got the team off to a great start. When she was done, she encouraged each and every member of the team, cheering them on, even holding back hair when she needed to. Brittany slowed them down and Mia made it even worse. When Mia finally managed to finish the bowl, Emily was already starting. Elle considered dramatically knocking her bowl over and telling everyone how gross this was but then she heard Harper and Abigail behind her, cheering her on. She looked over her shoulder to see Abigail looking anxious. Harper looked excited and confident. She didn't have a doubt in the world that Elle would come through.

"God damn it," she grumbled, snatching up a spoon. She took a deep breath and hovered over the bowl. Against her better judgment, she shoveled cereal into her mouth at a breakneck pace while her teammates screamed behind her.

* * *

"You should have seen them," Corey chuckled. "I never realized eating cereal could be such a turn off."

Seth wasn't upset to have missed the Booty-O eating contest. He liked a girl with a good appetite but from what Corey said, it was an ugly sight. He tried to convince the producers to just let him decide which seven girls got to participate in the tournament without the silly mini challenge but Jim explained that without the challenges, they wouldn't have much of a show.

"I don't get why you can't just tell me who won," Seth leaned back in his chair. He asked Corey when he arrived but the host kept mum, claiming the producers said he couldn't divulge.

"Seems to me like there's someone you're hoping made the cut," Kofi observed with a sly smile.

"I'm just hoping nobody got sick from having to scarf down that shitty cereal," Seth teased.

"How dare you?" Xavier feigned offense. "That's hurtful."

"There's one that he's definitely hoping will be here," Corey informed the former tag champs.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Seth lied through his teeth. Of course he was hoping that Elle made the cut. She was the first thing he thought about when he got up that morning, a slightly embarrassing item that he wasn't about to admit to anyone. He'd only known the girl for two weeks but she was steadily occupying more of his thoughts. He wondered what she was thinking after their conversation by the pool. She looked stunned when he revealed that he knew about her boyfriend. He couldn't decipher all of the emotions that crossed her face when he told her why he kept her anyway. There was confusion, surprise, and maybe even a little amusement. He thought about staying and talking to her more but he couldn't resist leaving her in suspense. He wasn't upset about her having a boyfriend but he got a little chuckle out of the idea of letting what he told her drive her a little crazy.

"Come on, man," Kofi sighed. "You're not supposed to be hung up on one girl yet. How many do you have left?"

"14," Seth answered. "And I'm not hung up on anyone. Corey doesn't know what the hell he's talking about."

"I think it's beautiful if you've found yourself a lady friend," Big E gave Seth a heavy pat on the shoulder. "As long as you know that there's no chance at you getting a real relationship out of this."

"I don't want a relationship, trust me," Seth laughed. That much was true. He went into the show absolutely certain that he wouldn't be finding love like the commercials promised and that hadn't changed. That didn't mean he couldn't have some fun.

The door opened and Seth looked up expectantly, disappointed when Jim walked in alone.

"Okay guys, the girls are just outside," Jim explained. "Corey and Seth I'd like for you to stand over here. We need a good clear shot of Seth when the girls come in. Seth, you congratulate them on making it to the challenge. Then you'll intro the challenge, explain all of the rules. Then we'll break while we change the setup. Any questions?"

"Are we getting paid for this?" Xavier joked.

"Any other questions?" Jim asked.

"We got it," Seth assured him. Jim opened the door and two cameramen came in, followed by Daisy and Amy. The tag champs positioned themselves in front of the comically huge cereal box in the corner and Amy checked all of their microphones. Once they were set and the cameras were rolling, the girls filed into the room with Harper leading the way. He was happy to see her there. She seemed so easygoing and she was pretty in an understated way. She was followed by Mia, Abigail, and a few girls whose names Seth regretfully couldn't remember. He was pretty sure one started with a K. He only counted six and he watched the door, hopefully. Elle made her way into the room and his lips spread into a wide smile. Then he realized she was limping. He stepped forward, offering her his arm, "What happened to you?"

She seemed surprised when she looked up at him.. The slightest hint of blush touched her cheeks as she allowed him to help her into line, "Nothing crazy. Just a stampede of adult women running to throw cereal at each other."

He raised an eyebrow at her and she smiled, "I'm okay. The medics checked it out. There's nothing broken."

"Do you know who did it?" he asked.

"Believe me, there was no way I could tell," she smirked. "It may have been more than one person. Whoever did it has to live with herself. That's enough for me."

"That's very mature of you," he laughed. "You struck me more as the type to hit back."

"I usually am," she shrugged. "They caught me on a good day."

"Is that because you get to see me?" he winked.

She tilted her head, eyes alight with laughter and she pulled her bottom lip between her teeth to stop her smile. He wondered how long it would take him to get her to stop trying to act so cool. If he had his way, and he usually did, it wouldn't be long.

She cleared her throat, casting her eyes from side to side and he realized that everyone was staring at them. He bet they would edit out their small exchange. He stepped back, allowing Corey to get the explanation started.

"Ladies," Corey spoke. "Congratulations on winning your mini challenge. It looks like most of you made it out unscathed."

Elle gave a sheepish smile as he continued.

"Please welcome, joining us for the challenge today, your longest reigning WWE World Tag Team Champions…The New Day."

A 'New Day Rocks' chant broke out complete with Xavier playing his trombone.

Seth spoke, "So I told you that today you'd get to do one of my favorite things and that is…Video games. I'm sure some of you are familiar with Xavier's YouTube show, UpUpDownDown. Today, you'll be participating in a tournament. The winner of the tournament will get to play against _me_ on an episode of UpUpDownDown."

"More importantly," Corey interjected. "The winner will get to choose 2 teammates to go on a group date with Seth _and_ receive Immunity from this week's elimination"

There was lots of cheering and talking amongst the women.

"You'll also win a lifetime supply of Booooooooootyyyyy-OOOOOs," Kofi yelled. And the other two joined in, "They make sure you ain't booty."

"And that's not all," E grinned. "You'll also receive every single piece of New Day merchandise on the market."

"And for those who don't know, that is a lot of merch," Corey laughed.

"Before we can get started, you all need gamer tags," Xavier explained. "And we are going to pick them for you."

Kofi named Mia 'Ice Queen' and Big E dubbed Elle 'Lil E'. Seth chuckled as they went through naming the rest of the girls. Harper smiled excitedly when Big E stood in front of her.

"And I shall call you…Red Rocket," he announced.

"Nope," Xavier shook his head quickly. "Not okay."

"E…you can't call her that, man," Kofi shook his head.

"What's wrong with Red Rocket?" E asked with the fakest innocent expression Seth had ever seen. "She's got red hair. She seems enthusiastic. It makes perfect sense. Red Rocket!"

"Stop saying Red Rocket!" Xavier demanded.

Kofi put his arm around E's shoulders and whispered to him.

He nodded, "Ohh…okay, yeah, that makes sense. I see it now."

Seth chuckled as they regrouped. Harper blushed furiously but gave a good-natured laugh.

"How about…" E put up a finger and Kofi and Xavier looked apprehensive. "Red Rover?"

"That works for me," Harper giggled.

"Okay, now that that's done, let's get started," Corey clapped his hands together.

Jim stepped in to stop filming, patting Seth on the shoulder, "Great job."

Seth thanked him and then took the opportunity to make his way over to Elle who was chatting quietly with Harper and the girl with the K name. Harper spotted him first and offered an eager smile and a wave. The nameless brunette blatantly stepped in front of Harper, flirtily tossing her hair over her shoulder. Elle's smile was more relaxed as she slipped her hands into her pockets, patiently waiting. He had a feeling she was used to men coming to her.

"Can I borrow you for just a minute?" he asked her, feeling guilty when the other girls looked slightly disappointed. He would make sure to talk to them during the challenge. He knew he wouldn't have much time for the un-monitored conversation he was hoping to have with Elle. She agreed and they were able to slip out past the cameramen who were testing out angles for the gaming stations. They both turned off their microphones as they walked. He didn't make her go far with her bum foot, stopping just around the corner, "You sure you're okay?"

"Trust me I'm fine. The worst thing about it is that I can't wear heels for a few days," she assured him. She reached out, her hand grazing his arm, "Thank you for asking though."

His skin tingled where she touched him and he bit his lip, his eyes scanning over her. She somehow managed to look impossibly sexy in a Tapout t-shirt and shorts.

"You wanted to talk to me?" she interrupted his ogling and drew his eyes back up to her face.

"I do," he nodded. "I thought you might want to continue that conversation we started."

Her cheeks flushed and her head dipped down momentarily, "Yeah. That might be a good idea."

"Do you want to go first?" he smirked, curious to see how she would handle things now that she'd had a little time to get her thoughts together.

"It's your show," she looked him in the eye. "Whatever you want."

"Okay, I'll go," he shrugged. "Knowing what I know, I have to ask…Why are you here?"

"Daisy," she answered, twisting the hem of her shirt around her index finger. "She's a really good friend and she wanted me to come after I met some of the other producers at the restaurant I work at. I said no at first but then I ended up with some time off and so she got me in. She said I wouldn't be here very long. The producers just wanted someone to stir up some drama for the first few episodes. They obviously didn't know the gems they have in Mia and Emily."

He considered her answer, "So you're here to be a troublemaker for a few shows? And that's why you didn't bother hiding your boyfriend?"

She nodded, "Pretty much. That sounds pretty awful doesn't it? I swear I'm not a total asshole. I didn't even mean to create as much drama as I have. I'm just bad at hiding cell phones."

He laughed, "My cell phone is gotten me into trouble a time or two."

"Do you hate me for lying to you?" she peered up at him, batting her long, dark lashes.

"If I hated you, I wouldn't have asked you to stay," he shrugged easily.

"I am really confused about that," she admitted. She tucked her hair behind her ears with both hands, "Why _aren't_ you mad about my having a boyfriend?"

"I told you last night, I don't see that as much of a problem," he answered. The relationship couldn't be that serious. Either she'd snuck off to date another guy on a reality show or the boyfriend willingly let her go. Neither spoke positively of their union.

"Even after what I just told you?" she asked. "You still don't think it's…I don't know…kind of a big deal?"

"Not really," he smirked, amused by her increasing confusion.

"Why not?"

"Because you took the necklace," he answered simply. "If you _really_ wanted to get back to your life, you would have told me no."

* * *

Elle stared after Seth's back as he walked back to the conference room they were filming in, reaching back to turn his microphone back on. For the second time, he'd thrown her for a loop, flashing her that cocky little smirk and walking away.

What the hell?

"Eleanor," Jim strutted around the corner, looking annoyed. She frowned at the use of her full name. "We're ready to get started. What are you doing out here?"

"Just…clearing my head," she shrugged, surprised that he didn't make the connection that Seth had also been missing for a few minutes.

"Well get it together, gorgeous, it's time for the challenge," he waved for her to lead the way back. "Why is your mic off?"

She'd learned quickly that production got very pissy about the microphones being turned off. Daisy explained that they didn't want to miss anything and if a big moment happened and the microphones were off, it wouldn't be usable.

"I don't know," she shrugged. "It just went off."

"Really? The knob just turned itself?"

"Maybe it did Jim," she shrugged, rolling her eyes and walking away. She didn't have patience for his nonsense. She headed back inside, finding Harper and Abigail. Amy filled them in on the tournament rules. Since there were seven of them, one bracket had 3 participants and one winner. Of course, Elle was put in that bracket with the two girls she was close to. If there was any motivator to tank the challenge, that was it. She needed either Harper or Abigail to be the one to win immunity. She was actually pretty good at video games but it couldn't be too hard to tank it, especially for her new friends.

Unfortunately for her, both of them were dreadfully bad. Abigail somehow couldn't figure out how to get out of the corner and Harper kept dropping her controller. Elle would have won even if she had her back to the TV. She beat them both without even trying and Seth shot her that damn cocky smirk.

With her friends out, she really didn't care who won. As long as it wasn't Mia. She wouldn't want to subject Seth to a date with that asshole. She played Kayla next and it was actually pretty competitive and a lot more fun. They were playing Mortal Kombat and Big E had apparently taken her on as his personal favorite, dancing behind her and cheering her on with Harper's help. Elle was having way more fun than she expected and then she took a bad hit and her competitive nature kicked in before she could do anything to stop it. She recovered and won, jumping up as Big E ran a lap around the room.

Before she knew it, she was in the finals for a challenge that she'd intended to lose. How the hell did she let that happen?

To make matters worse, somehow Mia had managed to pull the stick out of her ass long enough to make it as well.

"Lil' E versus The Ice Queen is going to be a battle of epic proportions," Corey announced, standing between them. He gave them a short speech reminding them of the stakes and to play fair.

Seth was standing over Elle's left shoulder with between Xavier and Harper and when she looked up at them he smiled at her and winked, mouthing _Good Luck_.

He had a way of looking at her that made her feel like she'd suddenly lost all of her clothes. She could feel warmth creeping up her neck and she turned forward quickly, focusing on the screen in front of her. She could not win this game. Winning meant guaranteed extension of her stay in the house and more time close to Seth which was guaranteed to be nothing but trouble. She was just going to have to swallow her pride and lose…to her nemesis. That wouldn't be hard at all.

They selected their characters and Xavier explained that they would have three rounds. That made Elle feel better. At least she could allow herself the satisfaction of beating Mia once before she took a loss.

Mia looked over at Seth, a confident smile on her glossy pink lips, "Can't wait to go on that date tonight."

Elle took advantage of Mia looking away from the screen and got the jump on her opponent and never let up, easily winning the first round.

"Might want to stop counting your chickens before they hatch," she grinned when Mia glared angrily at her. Elle shrugged innocently. It wasn't her fault the girl wasn't paying attention. Blame Seth.

"That's okay," Mia tried to shake it off with some encouragement from Xavier. "Real winners always rise to the top."

Elle almost threw herself off her chair. Did she have to make it so hard to lose to her?

The second round started and Elle took it easy but made sure to look like she was trying. She could hear the voices of just about everyone in the room cheering for one woman or the other. Seth was the only quiet one. She wondered what outcome he was hoping for.

Mia was insufferable when she won the second round. She got up and danced, terribly. The bitch even mimed making it rain over Elle's head. Elle took a slow, deep breath. Big E slapped his giant hands on her shoulders, "You got this, girl."

"It's 1 to 1," Xavier reminded them. "Whoever wins this round, wins the date with Seth."

"Do you want to just concede now and save yourself the embarrassment?" Mia suggested. "There's no shame in admitting that you aren't good enough."

"Oh you better take her down," Big E said, his tone stern. "Take her down!"

Letting him down was going to make her sad but immunity was a no go. The third and final round started and Elle made sure to put a little hurt on Mia before she started to back off. As Mia got the upper hand, she started getting loud again.

"Ohh, did that hurt?" Mia laughed when she dazed her. "Looks like you're gonna be sitting at home tonight with the rest of your pack of losers."

 _Fuck it._

Elle was suddenly blind to all consequences and could think of nothing but the proper strategy to use to beat Mia's character senseless. She was laser focused, scooting to the edge of her seat. Mia fought hard but she was clearly outmatched once the gloves were off. When Elle executed the Kiss of Death, burning Mia's chosen character alive, Elle jumped up, "I guess you'll be spending your night with nothing but your feathers to keep you warm."

Big E jumped between them, grabbing Elle's controller and dropping it like a microphone. He waved for her to jump on his back and she did, laughing uproariously as he galloped around. Xavier played his trombone during the victory lap. When Big E finally put her down, the three brightly dressed men danced with her and Kofi started tossing cereal into the air. They had to be three of the most delightful people she'd ever met. This made gorging herself on cereal that morning well worth it. As they began slowing down, Elle's eyes found Seth's and he smiled, clapping for her. He looked impressed.

"Okay, we're just going to take a quick break."

Elle heard Daisy's voice but she couldn't break her gaze away from Seth. She felt hypnotized.

"Elle, come out in the hall with me for a quick moment," Daisy touched her arm and broke her trance.

Grateful for the break in tension, Elle followed her friend into the hall.

"What the hell did I just do?" she whispered harshly once they were alone.

"You guaranteed us another week," Daisy smiled gleefully. "That was fantastic. I didn't think any of my girls had a chance at this challenge."

"Thanks?" she gave her friend an offended look. "Daisy, I didn't mean to win."

"Well it sure as shit looked like you did," the producer laughed. "And now that you won, we need to talk about who you're bringing with you on the date. We only have a few minutes."

"Well obviously bringing Harper and Abby," Elle declared. "That's not even a question."

"You can't," Daisy shook her head. "You've gotta bring Mia."

"Say what?" Elle stared. "The only reason I won this was so she wouldn't. I'm not volunteering to spend time with that harpy."

"If you pick Texas _and_ Kentucky, it's just going to be some annoying love fest that no one wants to watch," Daisy explained. "Picking Mia, _that's_ where the drama is. You come across like the more mature person, which you are, and knowing Mia she'll be totally ungrateful and cement herself as the villain. You pick whoever you like more and spend your night trying to make them look good to Seth. It's perfect."

Elle hated the idea of picking Mia but she saw Daisy's point. Harper would look like an angel sent from heaven around that woman and as much as she liked Abigail, she wanted Harper to be the one to win it all.

"Okay, just let me break it to Abigail first."

Daisy tried to argue the idea but Elle wasn't having it. She went back into the conference room and pulled Abigail aside to tell her she wouldn't be coming along on the date. She blamed it all on Daisy because she couldn't think of any other excuse and Abigail nodded her understanding. She was clearly disappointed and Elle felt like a complete jerk. Even The New Day covering her in their merchandise couldn't completely cheer her up, though they did get her to smile when they put a unicorn horn on her head. They surrounded her as filming started again.

"Congratulations Lil' E," Corey laughed. "You have won immunity and will be safe from elimination this week. I'd have Seth give you your necklace now but I don't think you have any room for it."

"You did a great job, Elle," Seth added, giving her a smile that sent a tickle up her spine. "You really showed me how much you want to be here."

"You and Seth will be back here tomorrow morning to tape your episode of UpUpDownDown," Corey explained. "But let's not get ahead of ourselves. You've got a date tonight and now that you've had some time to think about it, I need you to pick two friends to bring along with you."

Adorably, Harper actually looked a little anxious. She had her hands clasped, her chin resting on her knuckles.

"Come on, you dork," Elle waved her forward and she rushed over, hugging the life out of her with ridiculous country girl strength.

"Congratulations Harper," Seth laughed as the redhead peppered Elle with 'thank you's. "And who's our third lucky lady?

"Well…in the interest of creating peace in the house, I'm going to go with Mia," Elle forced a smile. The words felt gross coming out of her mouth. "Maybe that can help us bury the hatchet."

Everyone except Abigail looked surprised and Elle sighed Mia came over and gave her the most unwelcome hug of all time.

"I'll bury the hatchet in your back," she said loudly as she squeezed Elle. "Just kidding!"

Elle wondered if her unicorn horn could double as a weapon but Mia scampered away quickly, walking over and hugging Seth, telling him how excited she was for the date.

She didn't even offer a half-assed thank you in Elle's direction. This was going to be the worst date Elle had ever been on.


	9. The Standout

Harper looked in the mirror as Elle twisted a lock of her hair around her curling wand. She insisted on styling Harper's hair for the date since all Harper ever did to her bone straight mane was blow dry it. She could never get it to hold a decent curl but Elle knew some tricks that she swore would work wonders. So far she couldn't tell if it was working as each curl was pinned to her head. Harper wasn't sure if it was the curling iron, the California heat, or her building anxiety but her neck was starting to feel warm and itchy.

"Are you nervous?" she looked at Elle's reflection in the mirror.

"No, why?" the brunette's answer was quick and decisive.

"Because I think I'm about to break out in hives," Harper fanned herself. "That's completely normal, right?"

"Oh stop it," Elle pinned another curl. "You have nothing to be worried about. You have the face of an angel. Don't be dumb."

Harper chuckled at the flippant way Elle dismissed her insecurity, like Harper is just the most obviously magnificent person there was. When they first met, she'd been so intimidated by her. Elle was quite possibly the best looking in a room teeming with beautiful women. She'd been so cold at first but Harper had a feeling that it was all an act. Her eyes were kind, even if her attitude wasn't that first day. The hunch was confirmed that first day in the house when she offered to share her room. Elle was a sweetheart, she just didn't want anyone to know it.

"The face of an angel might be going a little far," Harper laughed as she pinned up one last curl. "But thank you."

"You're all done babe," Elle squeezed her shoulder. "We leave the pins in for like 15 minutes then I'll take them down and brush it out. You're gonna look like Rita fuckin' Hayworth."

"I _love_ Rita Hayworth," Harper smiled at her in the mirror.

Elle smiled delightedly, "I knew I liked you. What's your favorite Rita movie?"

"Cover Girl," Harper answered with ease. "No question. My mom showed it to me when I was a kid and I was obsessed."

"Your mom has great taste."

"She sure does," Harper proudly agreed. She took in the other woman's appearance: long dark waves still damp from her shower and cloud printed shorts and one of her New Day shirts.

"What are _you_ gonna wear missy?" she questioned. Elle had been so busy helping her, she hadn't made one move to get ready herself.

"Honestly, I haven't even thought about it," Elle shrugged, sitting on the floor by her bed and resting her back against it. She smirked, "Maybe I'll just wear this."

"I don't know Seth that well yet," Harper walked over to Elle's open suitcase near the closet. "But I'm pretty sure he's hopin' for a little more effort."

She pulled out a fabulous little black wrap dress. It had thin silk straps and was dangerously low cut.

"You have to wear this one," Harper said, holding the dress up against herself. It was super sexy but trimmed in a soft black ruffle that made it a little softer and gave it some sweetness. "He won't know what to do with himself."

"That is a great dress," Elle laughed. "It always works."

"Works for what?" the redhead raised an eyebrow.

Elle gave her a knowing smile, "Whatever I want it to."

"Then it's decided," Harper smiled. "You're wearing it."

"Almost time to go girls."

Harper tensed when Mia leaned into the room with her honey blonde hair pulled up into a perfect ponytail showing off a pair of gaudy but expensive looking earrings. Harper hated to admit it but Mia made her nervous. She was downright mean and clearly didn't feel the slightest bit of guilt about it. The few girls in the house that did hang out with her seemed to do it out of fear rather than any genuine positive feeling.

Mia fixed a smug grin on Harper, "Is that what you're wearing?"

Harper looked down at her navy blue BCBG romper. She thought she looked great in it. She always got compliments.

The blonde giggled, "This is gonna be easier than I thought."

"God, you're like the villain in an 80's movie," Elle piped up from the floor. "Don't you have anything better to do? Isn't there some rec center you should be trying to shut down? Maybe a class of summer school kids you should be making fun of?"

"Just get ready to go," Mia rolled her eyes. "Seth is supposed to be here in half an hour"

Mia left and Harper turned to Elle, "You would tell me if I should change, right?"

"Do not let that little monster get in your head," Elle stood up. "You look great."

Harper turned and looked at herself in the mirror. She liked her outfit but maybe it was a little conservative. Now she was questioning everything.

Elle came over and stood beside her, taking her black dress and holding it up, "To be clear, I think you look good but if you're feeling insecure, just wear this. You can't feel bad in this dress. Trust me. It's impossible."

"But you said you love it," Harper turned, confused.

"I do, and I think it will look amazing on you," Elle thrust the dress at her. "Now quit flapping your gums and put it on if you want it. We gotta go soon."

Elle turned, walking toward the door.

"But you aren't even dressed yet," Harper called after her.

"Don't worry about it," Elle tossed back.

Harper giggled, looking down at the dress and shaking her head. She hoped things would work out the way she wanted to with Seth but if not, at least she had gained a lovely, albeit peculiar, friend out of this strange experience.

* * *

When Seth stepped out of the limo and saw his dates for the evening, he momentarily had trouble remembering why he didn't want to do this show. Harper looked fantastic in a surprisingly sexy black dress. Mia looked gorgeous in a strappy little red number.

And then there was Elle.

He wondered if his eyes popped out of his head like a cartoon every time he saw her. He would have to ask Sasha how it came across on TV. She was dressed in the simplest outfit of the three; a casual, sage colored dress that dipped low enough in front to show just enough of the curve of her breasts and hugged her body perfectly, stopping just below her knees. There were little snaps down the front and all he could think of was how easy it would be to tug them open.

Before he could actually say anything to them, the faint sound of a trombone drew his attention and they all turned, looking down the drive. He laughed when he saw Xavier leading Kofi and Big E.

"Surprise!" Kofi smiled.

"What are you guys doing here?" Seth laughed, hugging his friends.

"We're coming on your date with you," Xavier explained. "Duh."

"Yeah, we all know you can't handle three beautiful women all at once," Big E nudged him. "So we're here to help you out."

"Please excuse him," Xavier shook his head, looking at the girls. "We don't normally let him talk to people."

"We are here to help our good friend, Seth, get to know you ladies better," Kofi smiled. "And to help you all get to know him."

Seth hadn't been informed that they would be coming along but he liked the idea of having his friends around. The carnival date had gotten intense with so many girls and just one of him.

"Alright then," Seth smiled, opening the car door. He was glad they'd picked a stretch Navigator. Suddenly, they needed more room. Elle got in first, followed by Kofi and E, then Harper and Mia. Xavier got in, fumbling a bit with Francesca II and Seth realized that he was going to be stuck on the end. He should've thought about that. They were headed to a wine tasting and then dinner. Seth wasn't sure if anyone else in the car actually knew where they were going. The conversation flowed over the long car ride. Kofi and E recognized Elle from some soap opera she had a role on and after they dealt with some heat from Seth and Xavier for knowing anything about the show, they had about a thousand questions for her. Mia and Xavier talked about Vegas and Seth learned a lot about Harper's dad's shoe store. He really didn't get to talk to Elle but he stole a few glances her way and caught her looking back more than once, bringing a satisfied smile to his face.

When they arrived at the winery, they were given a brief tour by a friendly young man and then led inside for the tasting. Glasses were set up around a beautiful oak bar. Seth hung back for a moment and let Elle pick her spot first before sidling up next to her.

"Having a good time?" he asked.

She smiled, "So far so good. But we're just getting to the best part."

"Dinner isn't the best part?" he smirked.

"Wine is always the best part," she laughed, offering a sweet smile and a thank you to the sommelier when he poured a taste of sparkling wine for everyone. She tapped her fingers on the stem of the glass as the young man explained its origins. She was clearly itching to drink it.

"Should I be worried about how excited you are right now?" he teased in a whisper.

"I love sparkling wine," she smiled. "It's one of my greatest weaknesses."

"Good to know," he smirked. "What are the other ones?"

"Well, there's 5 total," she whispered, leaning closer to him. "And I'll tell you the other 4…never."

"Oh come on," he chuckled.

"Not a chance," she shook her head. " _No one_ knows all 5."

"Not even the guy?"

"Not even the guy," she shook her head, picking up her glass when they were instructed to taste their wine. He did the same, clinking his glass against hers before taking a sip. As soon as the liquid touched his tongue he frowned, pulling the glass away from his lips. He was not a fan. He looked for Elle's reaction and laughed when he saw her finishing her glass. Apparently she liked it.

She looked up at him and he made a face, sticking out his tongue. She laughed, watching the sommelier. When he turned his back, she switched their glasses, leaving Seth with the empty and picking up his half full one. She sipped at it while the next one was explained. The sommelier poured them a Riesling they clinked glasses again before they took a drink. He noticed that the pours were heavy for a tasting, probably a request from the producers.

This one had to be the driest thing Seth had ever tasted and he was almost unable to swallow it. Elle didn't seem to like it either but she continued drinking it, her left eyebrow creeping up toward her hairline. He laughed at the adorably uncomfortable look on her face which made her giggle and bite down on the rim of her glass.

When she was done, she turned her head and he moved closer, blocking her with his shoulder as she coughed behind him. Once she was done coughing, she saw that he'd switched their glasses back and she had half a glass of that monstrosity in front of her again.

She slapped him on the arm and he laughed, "Bottoms up, gorgeous."

"I'll take this one but if you don't like the next one you're dumping it," she pointed, poking him hard in the shoulder. She yelped, shaking her hand.

"Weren't prepared for that steel were you?" he laughed

She laughed loudly that time and then covered her mouth when the sommelier gave them a stern look.

"You are always trying to get me in trouble, woman," he whispered when the other man looked away.

"You must like it," she looked at him out of the corner of her eye. "You kept me here."

"Hey guys," Xavier appeared behind them, touching each of their shoulders. "I'm gonna need you two to keep it down."

"Oh yeah?" Seth laughed. "Are we disturbing you?"

"I'm trying to learn," Xavier said. "And I can't hear anything over all of this bubbling chemistry over here."

Seth cackled at the joke and Elle shook her head, picking up her glass and holding it to her lips, trying and failing to hide her smile.

She had to put it down as the next wine was poured and Xavier made his way back to his spot when they all got another dirty look.

* * *

Elle fanned herself, trying to calm the blush in her cheeks as everyone finished up dinner. She'd managed to catch a bit of a wine buzz during their tasting thanks to switching glasses with Seth and then Harper once she and Xavier traded spots. She switched to water during dinner to make sure she didn't get too loose. Wine drunk was not a good look for her. She tended to get very…affectionate.

They were seated at a beautiful table outside with an incredible view of the setting sun. The dinner the chef prepared for them was delicious and Elle ate enough to wish she'd worn a looser dress. She was having a fantastic time. Kofi, Xavier, and Big E were even funnier than she thought. Now she understood all of the excitement in the house that morning.

The only downside to the date was that she had to share it with that little succubus, Mia. When they came out for dinner, Mia blocked Harper like a football player trying to get the seat next to Seth. They were directly across from Elle and Big E and the Nevada native was putting on a show worthy of the strip in Vegas. She was flipping her hair so much that Elle checked her food for blonde strands and that wasn't the worst of it. She laughed like a hyena at everything that Seth said, snagged bites of food from his plate, even fed him a bite of his steak. And she was speaking in a high pitched, breathy tone like she was about to break into a few bars of 'Santa Baby'. That was not how she sounded around the house.

Seth was just eating it up, clearly basking in all of the attention.

Harper noticed it too and seemed equally miffed looking over at Elle and holding a finger gun to her head.

Their plates were cleared away and everyone got up from the table as a server brought them more glasses. Big E proposed a toast to the ladies and Elle giggled when she saw Seth make a face at the same sparkling wine that he hated earlier. He caught her laughing and came over; offering her his full glass, "Want to finish this for me?"

"Well, if you insist," she shrugged, gratefully taking the glass and drinking a ladylike sip instead of downing the whole thing like she would at home. She knew when to class it up. She poured the contents of his glass into hers and then a staff member quickly came by to swipe the empty.

He looked over at the tag champions, "Do you guys mind keeping Mia and Harper company while I get a few moments alone with Lil' E here?"

They agreed, of course, but Elle gave him a wary look. Then she looked over at Mia and saw smoke coming out of her ears.

He held out his hand and before she knew what was happening, her arm was looping around his like it had a mind of its own. He led her over to a lovely area toward the front of the building where there was a small fire surrounded by plush couches, all recessed into the ground. He helped her down the 3 short steps and let her decide where they sat.

"This is very romantic," she looked around as they sat down.

"It's a date, sweetheart," he reminded her with a smirk.

"You think you're cute, don't you?" she asked, taking another sip of bubbly.

"Very cute," he nodded without an ounce of modesty. She liked that he didn't fake it. He wasn't an 'aww shucks' type of guy. That wouldn't suit him at all.

And he was right. He was cute. In fact, he looked drop dead sexy in his black pants and white dress shirt. Sometime during dinner he'd rolled his sleeves up to his elbows and for some reason, it was really working for Elle. His arms were amazing.

He was also sitting dangerously close.

"You're okay," she gave a nonchalant shrug but she could tell by his smile that he knew she was lying. He was annoyingly perceptive.

Harper laughed loudly at something one of the guys said and the sound drifted all the way over to them.

"Sounds like she's having fun," Seth chuckled.

"She is. We all are," Elle responded, happy to have the perfect segue. "You know, you should really get to know Kentucky better."

"Oh yeah?"

"Definitely," Elle nodded. That little foot obsessed weirdo had really wormed her way into Elle's heart. "Honestly, she's so sweet. And she looks smokin' hot in that dress."

"She seems like a nice girl. And she does look great," Seth agreed. "The dress is yours, right?"

She turned to him, so surprised she couldn't lie, "How did you know that? Did someone tell you?"

Damn it Harper. That was totally something she would do, give away the secret.

"No, just had a hunch," he shrugged. "It looks more like you than her."

"You don't know me," she joked, pushing at his thigh.

Oh no. The wine drunk was coming. It always started with leg touching.

She set the glass down on the ground beside her feet.

"I want to," he responded to her last words, draping his arm over the back of the couch. He wasn't touching her but she could feel the warmth radiating from him. "Tell me something about yourself."

She started to decline but either the booze or the craziness of the situation stopped her. The truth was, Seth was the only person involved in this that she _could_ be completely honest with. He was the only one who knew her secret and he wasn't going to blow it up in her face.

"What do you want to know?" she asked, leaning into the comfortable cushion at her back.

"Tell me about this soap opera the boys are so excited about," he requested.

"Well," she laughed. "It was the first recurring TV job I got. My character's name was Quinn. I was a college student who was secretly working as an escort. I got caught up in some mob business, despite the fact that the show is supposed to be about this big important hospital. Anyway, I saw something I wasn't supposed to see and got shot, just as I was getting into a relationship…with a guy who was recovering from amnesia."

"Wow," Seth laughed. "That's a lot."

"I know, it sounds awful and ridiculous," she laughed, covering half of her face with her hand. It really was better than it seemed. Slightly.

"It's not any weirder than some of the stuff we've done," he shrugged. "I forget you're not a fan. Remind me to tell you about Katie Vick one day."

"Jules says she's gonna make me watch the Network all day tomorrow," she said, moving her hand away from her face to sweep her hair over one shoulder. Her neck was feeling warm.

"You'll have to let me know what you think," he smiled.

"Anything else you want to know?" she asked, reaching down to retrieve her wine. She could handle it. And it shouldn't go to waste just because she got a little flirty.

"Oh there's lots," he answered. "Tell me about your family. You said you have sisters, right?"

"3," she nodded, taking a drink. "Two older, Amelia and Sadie, and one younger, Lydia. My poor dad prayed for a boy but it never worked out for him."

"I'm sure he's happy to have 4 lovely daughters."

"He is," she nodded. "But he did tend to treat us like boys from time to time. It worked out though. I can change my own oil and tires and Sadie throws a monster fastball."

"So she's the sporty one?" he asked.

"She's the sporti _est_ ," she answered. "But we all did something. Amelia played volleyball. Lydia does cross country and soccer. I was mostly a theater kid but I did competitive cheerleading all the way through senior year."

"Well that doesn't count," Seth laughed.

"I'm sorry, what?" she shifted so that she was sitting on her heels.

"Cheerleading isn't a sport," he shrugged.

"Yes it is!" she tapped his leg again, playfully offended. "I would think that as a professional wrestler, you would have a little more appreciation for nonconventional sports."

"Oh I do. Just not cheerleading. Because it's not a sport," he laughed, enjoying needling her. "It definitely paid off though because your body is _crazy_."

She chose to ignore that comment, "Hey man, I was on ESPN in high school. Were you?"

"Oh I'm gonna need to see some proof of this," he laughed, rubbing his hands together.

"Fine, give me your phone," she reached out her hand. He pulled it out and unlocked it, handing it over. She made a mental note of how easily he handed it over.

She opened his YouTube app and found the clip then handed it back to him. He brought his arm down to her shoulders, pulling her into his side as he pressed play with his other hand. She bit her lip, trying to pretend she didn't notice the light touch of his fingers on her shoulder.

She cringed at the sight of her 16 year old self, turning in toward his chest. He laughed and she felt the sound rumble through him. The scent of his cologne filled her senses and she turned her face back toward his phone. They watched the video with Elle giving commentary on how hard they worked to get ready for the routine and where some of her teammates were currently. Seth listened and laughed, completely engaged. Elle was having so much fun, she almost forgot the cameras were even there.

* * *

Seth was amazed that the night was going so well. The girls hadn't gotten into a fight. No one was too drunk. Elle flirted up a storm with him during their alone time and now Xavier was teaching Harper how to play Francesca II. She looked like an adorable little puffer fish and she couldn't get through more than 2 or 3 notes before she started laughing. They must have been boring the crew because there were only 2 cameramen left out of the four they started with.

"Alright everyone, we are reaching the end of our contracted time here at the winery," Jim came over, clapping his hands together. "It's time to say goodbye to our guests and head back to the house."

"Boo!" Big E and Elle both yelled loudly at Jim and he looked incredibly annoyed as he continued, "Girls. We need to shoot one on ones with you over by the fire. Then we're out. Got it?"

"Is Seth riding back with us?" Mia asked, smiling over at him.

"I don't know how else I'm getting back to the house," he laughed. She looked over at him and winked and he smiled back. Mia was a little over the top but he couldn't deny that the blonde was hot. She also wasn't scared to make her presence known. She made sure that he barely got to talk to anyone else at dinner. He liked the idea of someone wanting to monopolize him. He loved attention and he wasn't ashamed of it.

As Jim herded the women off for their interviews, Seth sat down with his friends, "So…what do you think?"

"I still think this whole thing is crazy," Kofi spoke up first. "But I like the girls more than I thought I would. Maybe not the blonde one. I don't know if I like her."

"She was better tonight than she was during the tournament," Big E shrugged.

Mia seemed to be polarizing with just about everyone who met her.

"Kentucky is _way_ too nice for you," Xavier laughed. "Like _waaaay_ too nice. She's like a Candyland character."

"I don't know, maybe he could use someone nice," E suggested. "The last one was…not great."

"Thanks man," Seth rolled his eyes. "And X may be right. I like Harper but I wonder if she's gonna make it in this house without someone making her cry."

"Hey, sometimes it's good to cry," Kofi shrugged.

"I don't even know why we're talking about this like you don't already have the winner picked," Big E laughed.

"What are you talking about?" Seth laughed. "You saw how many girls are still here."

"And you look at one of them like a dog stares at a bone," E laughed.

"Why do I have to be a dog?" Seth joked.

"Oh I think we all know the answer to that," Kofi chuckled.

Seth chose not to be offended. Dogs were wonderful creatures.

"He's right man," Xavier laughed. "You and Lil' E have a total thing happening. I'm already trying to think of your couple name but all I have so far is Selle."

"That's terrible," E frowned.

"I'm working on it," Xavier glared. "I gotta beat Sasha to it."

"Okay, I am very attracted to Elle but I haven't picked a winner yet," Seth insisted. He had plenty of time and girls left. Things could change on a dime. There _was_ the minor issue of Elle's boyfriend.

"You keep telling yourself that," Kofi laughed. The boys teased Seth some more and he was grateful when Jim led the women back. Jim thanked the men for participating and explained that they just needed to film a quick interview with their thoughts on the girls and they could be on their way. They agreed and said goodbye to Harper, Mia, and Elle. When Kofi hugged Elle he pointed at the back of her head, mouthing 'Pick This One' at Seth. Seth smiled at his friend, shaking his head. He knew that there was some truth to what they were saying. There was something about Elle that put her ahead of the other women but he couldn't put all of his eggs in that basket when she still hadn't admitted that she _wanted_ to be there. Still, he was going to enjoy her while she was still around. Once The New Day left, Jim directed Seth and the women to head to the limo. Seth walked beside Elle, smoothly taking her hand in his. Her skin was soft as silk and warm and he half expected her to pull it away but she surprised him by linking her fingers with his. He smiled slowing so that they were bringing up the rear. Jim and the cameraman got in first and this time Seth waited, letting Harper and Mia in so that he was seated comfortably beside the enticing brunette on the short end. She let go of his hand when she got in and Seth closed the door behind them.

Harper plucked off her heels, "These things are killing me."

Seth laughed, appreciating the honesty, "Harper, you're supposed to be my shoe expert. If you can't keep your heels on, who can?"

"I bought these on a whim," she laughed. "And they have no arch support. I'm totally taking them back when I get home."

"You didn't get them at your dad's store?" Elle asked. "Isn't that a cardinal sin?"

"Well I'm not gonna tell him," Harper laughed.

"I think you just did," Elle pointed at the camera.

"Elle, don't point at the camera," Jim reprimanded her.

"Oh come on, she set me up for that one," Elle threw up her hands. "You are no fun Jim."

"I don't think you're supposed to talk to him when he's off camera," Seth laughed, draping his arm over her shoulders.

"Are you on his side now?" she smirked.

"Stop talking about me," Jim sighed. "We can't use any of this."

"Fine, fine," Elle waved leaning forward and grabbing two cups from the small bar. The winery had given each of them a bottle of the sparkling wine as a parting gift. She popped the cork on hers, pouring a glass for herself and Harper. Mia declined, making a face and staring at Harper's naked but completely inoffensive feet.

"You aren't going to offer any to Seth?" Mia asked incredulously.

"He doesn't like it," Elle answered, looking over at him. "Do you Seth?"

"All yours," Seth waved, smiling at the smug look Elle tossed the blonde's way.

"Okay," Elle held up her cup. "To Harper's Dad's shoe store. I sincerely hope that he forgives you for this transgression."

"Let this be punishment enough," Harper held up her foot which was bright red on either side.

Mia looked appalled and Harper and Elle laughed hysterically at her reaction.

They got stuck in some traffic on the ride back but Seth didn't mind. Harper was telling a funny story about her dad accidentally ordering a store full of orange pumps and Elle was sitting pressed right against his side, listening to her new friend, occasionally looking up at him for a reaction or offering a playful smile.

"I would like to propose another toast," Harper announced as they got closer to the house. "To Elle for bringing us along on this date. I had a wonderful time."

"You are very welcome," Elle waved away the praise and Seth waited for Mia to join in but she never did, pouring herself a glass of wine instead.

She was consistent at least.

He slipped his hand under Elle's again and once again, she didn't pull away. When they pulled up the long drive to the house he leaned over to whisper in her ear, "You should be careful."

"Of what?" she asked quietly.

He looked pointedly down at their hands and then back up to her warm brown eyes, "I think you might have a little crush on me."

She laughed, looking up at him defiantly, "I have no idea what you're talking about."

They were close enough that their noses almost touched and Seth wondered what would happen if he kissed her. He was growing more confident by the moment that that's exactly what she wanted whether she admitted it or not. He looked down at her lips, full and pink and perfect. He would bet they were completely addictive. Unfortunately, he wasn't enough of a jerk to try and make out with her in front of the other girls. He would just have to wait. The car came to a stop and the driver came around, opening the door for them. Seth was out first and then he helped each of the women out, laughing when he saw that Harper had opted to carry her shoes rather than put them back on.

Harper gave him a big hug and he kissed her on the cheek, watching as she walked gingerly inside the house.

He turned to Elle, smiling down at her, "So how am I doing so far?"

She gave him a sly smile, "I'll see you in the morning, Rollins."

She leaned up, giving him a soft kiss on the cheek.

"Have a good night," he called after her as she followed Harper inside.

"You too," she waved.

Seth noticed Mia hanging back behind him and he turned to her, "Everything okay?"

She looked up at him with bright blue eyes, "Of course. Everything's fine. I just wanted a moment alone to thank you for tonight. It was a fantastic date."

Did she think he actually paid for any of that?

"You're welcome," he smiled. "I'm glad Elle picked you to come. It was nice to spend a little more time with you."

"I feel the same way," she smiled. She reached both arms up around his neck and hugged him. She smelled like roses.

"I'll see you tomorrow I guess," she smiled, pulling back enough to look at him again. She still had both arms around his neck and he felt her starting to toy with the hair at the base of his neck.

She stood up on the balls of her feet, pressing her lips to his. Seth's body was reacting before his mind could fully process what was happening. She slipped her tongue against his and he ran his hand through her hair.

She pulled away slowly, tugging his bottom lip with her. She smiled at him, taking a step back, "Just remember that at elimination tomorrow."


	10. The Chase

**I'm back peeps! Apologies for the delay; life, work, and lots of live wrestling have kept me from getting in much writing. I'm working on getting better and I have updates half done for my other 2 active stories. This isn't my most eventful update but I promise, business is about to pick up! As always, Read, Enjoy, Review! I'd love to hear some thoughts on guests/challenges you'd like to see on the show. I have plenty planned but I'm open to new ideas and inspiration!**

 _The next morning…_

Elle stared at the underside of her blanket, missing the early days in the house when no one tried to wake her up.

Her peaceful oasis was no more.

Someone was knocking on the door and she didn't know _exactly_ what time it was but she was sure that it was too early for her to be awake. She'd been up half the night talking with some of the girls after a near fight broke out between Emily and one of the quieter ones. When she finally did get to sleep, she had a strange dream where she and Mia were bare knuckle boxing. She was just getting to the good part when the stupid knocking started.

Abigail was draped across the foot of Elle's bed, snoring loudly, her arm hanging over the side. Jules and Harper were both curled up in Harper's bed.

Sure, they kept her up all night and now they were sleeping like it was their job.

 _Bitches._

She had half a mind to wake them all up. They were lucky she liked them.

The knocking persisted and Elle shoved her blanket away from her face, "Go away!"

It was probably one of the poor, innocent cameramen but they picked the wrong day to bother her. They were about to feel her sleepy wrath.

She kicked the covers the rest of the way off and scrambled out of bed, stomping over to the door and yanking it open, "What?!"

"I was just about to ask if you were decent," Seth stood on the other side, smiling at her.

Of course it was Seth. _Of course_. He looked all perfect and showered and stupid handsome and she wasn't even wearing pants. How long was it going to take for her to learn to sleep in pants?

"Hey," she laughed anxiously, tugging at the hem of her New Day t-shirt. She didn't know why she bothered. The shirt covered maybe half of her ass. She would just have to refrain from turning around. "What are you doing here?"

"Watching you try to pull that shirt down," he smirked. "It's okay, you don't have to cover up on my account."

She was not about to prance around with her ass hanging out in front of him. Normally she didn't care who saw her. She walked around her apartment naked with the blinds open whenever she felt the urge but that was different. At home, she didn't know who was looking and she didn't care. Here, she knew exactly who was looking and he made her nervous.

"We're taping our UpUpDownDown episode this morning," Seth reminded her. "I'm here to pick you up."

"Oh, shit, I completely forgot," she ran a hand through her hair, clutching it at the crown of her head. "I'm so sorry. Last night was a mess. I didn't sleep very well."

"It's okay," he assured her. "Can you be ready to go in 20 minutes? You can tell me all about last night on the way."

"20 minutes?" she stared. She went through her normal morning routine in her head. He was leaving her about 40 minutes short.

"Seth?" Abigail's voice sounded over Elle's shoulder and she looked over at the blonde, laughing when she saw the stunned look on her face. She tried to run a hand through her messy hair and use the other to wipe the sleep away from her eyes. She quickly gave up and pulled Elle's blanket to cover her face, "Oh my God, you cannot be here right now."

Jules stirred, tumbling out of the bed when she saw Seth. She scrambled over, hiding behind Abigail, "Holy shit. What are you doing here?"

At least Elle wasn't the only one..

"Ladies, no need to worry," Seth gave them a charming smile. "You all look beautiful."

Harper was still asleep, snoring with her mouth wide open. Maybe not _her_ most beautiful moment.

"Elle..20 minutes okay?" he drew her attention back to him.

"If it has to be," she shrugged, trying to decide what she could cut. She didn't always wear a lot of makeup so she wasn't concerned with that. It was her love of long showers and skincare routine that she was worried about.

"It does," he laughed. "And believe me; you don't need more than that. You already look beautiful. It shouldn't take much."

Did he have to be so smooth? He clearly had a lot of practice charming women right out of their panties.

"Thank you," she smiled, ignoring the fluttering feeling in her stomach. "I'll meet you downstairs in 20."

"Deal," he smiled. He waved at the other women in the room, "I'll see you later ladies."

As he made his exit, Elle closed the door, leaning against it. She tapped her fingernails against the wood, looking up at the ceiling. God help her, she was actually looking forward to this. Seth was fun, easy to talk to, and even easier to look at. She'd stupidly guaranteed herself another week in the house, she might as well enjoy it before it was time to get back to reality and her Hulu password stealing boyfriend.

"You lucky bitch," Abigail lowered the blanket. "You realize that you're getting the first solo date, right?"

"It's not a date," Elle insisted, walking over to her suitcase. "What am I supposed to wear to this?"

"Keep it casual," Jules explained.

"It is absolutely a date," Abigail insisted. "You're the first one of us that gets to leave the house with Seth without any of the other women around. That's a date."

"We aren't going to be alone," Elle shrugged, holding up shorts and a black and white striped crop top. Jules nodded her approval and Abigail held up both thumbs.

Harper rolled over, clutching her pillow, eyes still closed.

"Do we need to wake her up?" Jules asked.

"She had a lot of wine last night," Elle waved. They finished a few more bottles when they got back to the house. "Best to let her sleep it off."

"Can we talk about him telling you how good you look in the morning?" Jules swooned, putting her hand over her heart. "Fuck you for that by the way. How do you wake up looking like a Disney princess while I look like I just got into a fight with a hairbrush?"

"Neither of those things are true," Elle rolled her eyes. Seth was right, they did all look good. In fact, Elle thought Jules actually looked even better without makeup, even with her Medusa situation happening on her head..

While they discussed how mortified they were, she excused herself to take a lightning fast shower before heading into the glam room. She was trying to figure out what to do with her hair when Mia waltzed in with Emily and another minion. They couldn't have known that Seth was in the house. There was no way they wouldn't have thrown on the nearest silk gown and run downstairs to shove their heads up his ass.

"Since when do you get up early?" Mia made a face, understandably surprised to see Elle.

"Just felt like getting up," Elle shrugged, deciding to save Seth the trouble of dealing with them for a little while longer. She ran her brush through her thick hair and then twisted half up into a top knot.

"I could barely sleep last night," Mia mused. "Coming into the house was like walking on a cloud."

"I'm so jealous," Emily sighed. "Of course you got to be the first one."

Elle wasn't trying to listen to their conversation but, as usual, they talked like they were on stage playing to the cheap seats.

"It was amazing," Mia said as Elle looked through her lipstick options. "Top 5 I've ever had, for sure."

Elle sighed, resting her chin on her hand, "What are you talking about?"

"Oh you haven't heard yet?" Emily laughed.

"Heard from where? I've been awake for less than 20 minutes," she narrowed her eyes. "What is it that you so obviously want to talk about?"

Mia gave a devilish smile but Emily was the one to answer, "Mia kissed Seth last night."

* * *

Seth was surrounded by women as he sat on the couch waiting for Elle. There were still girls that he'd barely spoken to at this point and he was trying to get to know them but he had to admit, they weren't the most interesting. One that he _was_ intrigued by was Kai. She was beautiful and exotic. She had a quiet confidence about her that he appreciated. She didn't jump on him the moment she saw him like some of the girls but she didn't shy away from him either. She walked into the room holding a cup of coffee and gave him a sweet smile, "I didn't know you were here."

"I just got here," he explained. "Elle and I have to go shoot the rest of her prize from yesterday."

"She's a lucky girl," Kai smiled. "I heard everyone had a lot of fun on the date. I hope I get to go on the next one."

Seth grinned, "I hope you do too."

They talked for a few minutes about wine and she giggled at how much he disliked most of what they had at the winery. He checked his watch. Elle had 5 minutes left and there was no sign of her. Jules, Abigail, and a zombified Harper had just made their way downstairs. Poor Harper was dead asleep when he went up earlier; he thought he might not see her until elimination.

"Seth, do you want any coffee?" Abigail offered and he considered taking her up on it but he'd already had some on the way to the house and they would be leaving soon so he declined. Once the trio was done in the kitchen, they came into the living room and poor Harper looked like she wanted to die.

"How you doing there Champ?" he asked, giving her a quick hug.

"It is so bright in here," she drawled, shielding her eyes. "I'm so sorry I didn't wake up earlier."

"You don't need to be," he assured her, patting her on the back. "You take all the sleep you can get."

He looked toward the stairs and smiled when he saw Elle walking down, "There she is."

She gave him a closed lipped smile when she reached the room and he was confused. She seemed happy to see him earlier. What could possibly have happened in 15 minutes?

"You ready to go?" he asked, walking closer to her.

"Yup," she nodded, turning to Harper with a look of concern, "Make sure you drink lots of water today and take some aspirin."

"I will. Have fun this morning," Harper smiled gratefully.

"Bring him back in one piece," Jules joked.

"I'll do my best," Elle laughed. They both said their goodbyes and he held the front door open for her, noting that she still had a little bit of a limp. He offered his arm to help her down the front stairs but she smiled politely, "I'm okay. Thanks."

"Is everything okay?" he asked, catching up with her.

"Of course," she nodded. "Everything's fine."

* * *

Daisy waited near the door, watching to make sure that Elle and Seth were safely on their way. When their SUV pulled away, she moved from her spot near the door. She had a busy day and the first thing on the agenda was a conversation with Abigail. She wasn't excited for it but this was all a part of the job.

She found the blonde lounging on the couch watching as Jules selected a program on the WWE Network.

"Texas, can I talk to you for just a sec?" she waved her over. Once they found a quiet spot, she gave the young woman a sympathetic smile. "I just wanted to check in with you. You looked a little upset yesterday when Elle didn't pick you for the date."

"I was a little disappointed," Abigail sighed. "But I understood. I mean, she said it was your idea and you guys are the bosses."

" _My_ idea?" Daisy frowned. "Elle said _I_ made her pick Mia?"

"Yeah. She said that was why you talked after she won the challenge."

"I was talking to her about the date but I was just as surprised as you were that she didn't pick you," Daisy put on an earnest expression, shaking her head. "I thought you guys were getting close."

Abigail's eyes narrowed as she considered Daisy's words. She looked unsure and Daisy reached out, patting her on the arm, "I don't know why she would say that to you. I'm sorry. You know that I'm here for all of you. It's my job to have your back. I guess Elle just didn't want you to know the real reason she didn't pick you."

Daisy was the one who recruited Abigail. A huge part of her job was making sure that the girls trusted her, even if they shouldn't. She had to keep them all on her side. After a few years in reality TV, she'd gotten pretty damn good.

Abigail sighed, looking deflated, "The real reason?"

"My guess is that she didn't pick you because she sees you as more of a threat than Harper and she didn't want you getting all of Seth's attention," Daisy offered.

"Maybe," the Texan still looked conflicted. "I don't know though. It just doesn't seem like her. And I haven't gotten that much time with Seth, especially not as much as her. I don't know why she would be threatened."

"You're gorgeous," Daisy reminded her. "And I've seen the way Seth looks at you. You may not have gotten much time _yet_ but you're gonna go far in this thing. We all know it. Our EP thinks you're gonna be in the final 2."

"Really?"

No. The show's executive producer thought she would be gone within the next 2 weeks but she wasn't about to tell Abigail that, "Really. You just need to make sure you keep your head in the game. You aren't here to make friends. You're here to win, right?"

"Right," Abigail nodded, squaring her shoulders like the pageant queen she was. Daisy smiled at the sign of confidence.

"Listen, Abs, I won't lie to you. Seth obviously likes Elle so he probably wouldn't take kindly to someone outright confronting her…but you need to keep your guard up," Daisy advised. "And pick your moment. There will be a time when you can return the favor."

* * *

The limo ride was quiet. They made some conversation but the vibe was wildly different from the night before. She was more like herself once they met up with E, Kofi, and Xavier. Kofi's wife was a fan of her on General Hospital and didn't believe her husband when he told her Elle was on the show so Elle agreed to FaceTime her. They filmed their game, playing WWE2K17. He selected himself, of course, and she chose Brock Lesnar and came surprisingly close to beating him. He managed to come out on top and they had fun but the whole time he could tell that something was just…off.

Jim took her out of the room to film an interview and as soon as the door closed, he had 3 sets of judgmental eyes on him.

" _What_ did you do to Lil' E?" Big E questioned.

"She seems mad, right?" he asked, relieved that he wasn't imagining things. He had a lot of practice with women being mad at him. He was usually pretty good at picking up the signs.

"Oh she's pissed at you," Kofi laughed.

"Super pissed," Xavier agreed. "What happened?"

"Nothing," Seth shrugged, confused. "I thought everything was good."

"Well it's not," Big E scoffed. "And knowing you, you did something."

"Why's it gotta be me?" Seth laughed.

"In Seth's defense, the girl is basically competing to win Seth so he should get a little leeway," Xavier said. "But in _her_ defense, Seth is _Seth_ so…"

"Thanks man," Seth said dryly.

The conversation halted when Elle returned with Jim who explained they needed to get back to the house and the former tag champs had a flight to catch. They all exchanged warm goodbyes.

"Keep him in line for us," Kofi requested when he hugged Elle. She smiled and laughed, promising to try.

When they were in the back of their car on the way back to the house, he looked over at her, "You know you can tell me if something is bothering you, right?"

"I don't know why you think anything is bothering me," she shrugged.

For an actress, she wasn't very convincing.

"Yesterday you were holding my hand and now you don't seem to want to be in the car with me," he explained, sure to keep his tone neutral. He wasn't mad and he didn't want it to come across that way. He just wanted to know what was wrong.

"I heard you did a lot more than hand holding yesterday," she shrugged, looking out the window.

He frowned, confused, "What?"

"With Mia," she turned to him with an amused smile, "Or was it so bad that you don't remember? That would not surprise me."

The kiss. He wouldn't say he'd forgotten about it but he was with _Elle_. It wasn't top of mind.

Apparently it was for her.

His mouth spread into a big smile and he laughed, pointing at her, "You're jealous."

"What?" she yelped. She gave a haughty laugh, "I am not jealous. Why on Earth would I be jealous?"

"I warned you yesterday," he reminded her. "You have a crush on me."

"I am not the one with the crush here, Rollins," she declared, though she couldn't look him in the eye.

She wasn't the _only_ one. That much was true.

"She kissed me, just so you know," he announced.

"I don't need to know the details," she put her hands up. "It's really none of my business."

"If you thought it was none of your business, you wouldn't have brought it up," Seth said. "And don't try to say you didn't bring it up because you are _definitely_ the one who brought it up."

Seth felt like a kid in a candy store. He loved having the upper hand and he had no idea how to be gracious about it.

"Okay, maybe I did bring it up," she shrugged. "It doesn't mean anything. I just…question your taste if that's who you want to make out with."

"We didn't make out," Seth clarified. "It was one kiss and I am deeply flattered that it bothered you so much."

"You are insufferable," she laughed. He got the impression that she felt a little silly for letting the kiss bother her. Selfishly, he was glad to know that it had.

He lifted her hand from the seat between them, winking at her, "I like you too."

"I do not _like_ you," she insisted, rolling her eyes. She couldn't hide the smile quirking up the corner of her mouth.

"Oh, I think you do, sweetheart," he linked their fingers together.

The ice had melted. She wasn't keeping him at arm's length like she did back at the house.

He held up their joined hands, placing a soft kiss to the back of her hand. He could see the moment when her breath caught and he gave her a knowing smile as he lowered their hands. Once again, he thought about kissing her. He wanted to run his hands through her silky hair, pull her in, and claim her lips with his own.

But he wouldn't. Not yet. He didn't think she was ready for that yet and he didn't want to risk scaring her.

He spent the next few minutes continuing to tease her and she rolled her eyes and jabbed him with a few playful elbows. This wasn't a bad way to spend a morning. He didn't love how early he had to get up but the company couldn't have been better. He found himself trying to think of some excuse to make it last longer but he couldn't come up with anything.

When a deep yawn hit him, he leaned over, resting his head on her shoulder.

"Tired?" she giggled.

"Extremely," he confirmed. "I haven't had a day off in a while. I've got Raw every week, plus live events, media, charity stuff, then I fly out here every week and see all of you lovely ladies."

"That sounds intense."

"It can be," he chuckled. "I can't complain though."

"Seth, you're human" she reminded him. "You can complain if you want to."

"Really, I can't," he shook his head. "I got hurt a while back; tore up my knee pretty bad; ACL, MCL, and meniscus."

"Jesus," she winced,

He nodded, "We were in Ireland. I was doing a move I'd done a hundred times. It just…something went wrong. I had to vacate my title, have surgery, go through rehab. I was out for 7 months and it was absolutely miserable."

She lightly squeezed his hand as he continued, "If you'd asked me then, I would have killed to be working as much as I am now so I'm not gonna complain. I'm grateful for all of it. I probably don't act like it sometimes but..it means everything to me."

He hadn't intended to go down such a serious path but he liked the way her thumb ran over his knuckles as she listened. She was easy to talk to, the words just flowed.

"Give me your hoodie," she held up her free hand and he reluctantly sat up straight, picking up the Progenex sweatshirt he'd discarded on the seat.

"Are you cold?"

She shook her head as she folded and fluffed the garment and placed it in her lap, "Come on, lay down."

He raised a questioning eyebrow at her and she shrugged, "You can try and take a nap for a few minutes. We still have elimination tonight. This day is nowhere near over. You should try and relax when you can."

He didn't need to be told twice. He laid on his back with his head in her lap and closed his eyes. His legs were at an odd angle but he didn't care. He missed having someone who was concerned with his well being. He missed knowing that there was always someone looking out for his best interest other than himself. He hadn't had that in a while. He didn't want to assign too much to a small gesture but he would be lying if he said this didn't make him feel good. He wasn't above being taken care of. Amidst the entire spectacle that was involved in this show, there was something comforting and real about the moment they were having. Her left arm rested across his stomach and her right hand found the top of his head, her fingers stroking through his hair, nails occasionally grazing his scalp.

"Can you just drive around for the next few hours?" Seth sleepily asked the driver. He could stay like this for as long as she would let him.

She laughed, "Ignore him. He's a crazy person."

He relaxed, sighing contentedly when she tucked some errant strands of hair behind his ear. When he woke up, he had no idea how long he'd been asleep. His eyes opened slowly and found her looking out the window. He shifted a fraction and she looked down at him with whiskey brown eyes.

"Those eyes are gonna be trouble for me," he smirked at her.

"Oh shut up Rollins," she blushed.

He reluctantly sat up when they reached the house. They got out of the car and he admired the curve of her lower back when she reached up to stretch. She caught him staring, as she always seemed to, and he shrugged at her. He couldn't help himself.

"I guess this is where I leave you," she walked over to him with his sweatshirt draped over her arm. "Unless you're coming back inside."

"I can't actually," he sighed. "I have to go do a radio interview."

"Well hopefully the quick nap helped," she gave him a sympathetic smile.

"The morning with you helped," he offered and she rolled her eyes.

He was laying it on thick, he knew that, but he liked the way she looked at him when he flirted with her. She was always trying for sardonic and amused but he could see that there was more there. She liked it. She liked him. She didn't want to admit it but he was confident that he could get her to. It might just take a little work.

"You still mad at me?" he asked, leaning back against the SUV.

"I don't have any reason to be mad at you," she shrugged. "You're a big boy. You make your own choices."

He reached out, catching her hand and guiding her to stand in front of him, "You know, if you're still jealous about Mia, you _could_ just kiss me."

"I could," she agreed, tilting her head with a playful smile. She moved closer and he bit his lip when he felt the curve of her breasts, full and round, against his chest. Her eyes fell to his lips and slowly made their way back to his. Seth held his breath when he felt her hand toy with the bottom of his t-shirt. His own eyes closed when her finger just barely grazed his skin. He could feel the tip of her nose touch his.

"But I'm not jealous," she whispered.

He opened his eyes as she pulled away, grinning and pleased with herself.

She held out his hoodie, "I'll see you later, Seth."

"Yes you will," he nodded, taking the hoodie and discreetly holding it over a quickly growing hard-on as she backed toward the door. "I'm gonna get you back for that."

She smiled over her shoulder, opening the door, "I look forward to it."

Elle pressed her back against the front door, hoping that the cool wood would calm her. Her skin tingled and her pulse thumped loudly in her ears. She was just being silly, trying to mess with Seth's head because he gave her so much shit about being jealous. She hadn't intended to get herself worked up in the process but her intentions weren't doing her any good. The way his eyes darkened when she stepped into his space had sent a warmth swirling straight to her core that she hadn't expected. Flirting with Seth was playing with fire. She couldn't keep this up much longer.

* * *

 **PS: I am completely exhausted as I post this. I tried to catch any errors but I will go back through tomorrow and double check.  
**


	11. The Fork in the Road

_Wednesday Morning…_

Harper sighed when she walked back into the bedroom. Elle was just as she'd left her, face down in her bed with a blanket covering everything except the very top of her head. Her love of sleep was no secret but this was too much, even for Elle. Harper had been trying to get her out of bed for over an hour. She walked over to the bed, bracing herself for what was sure to be a barrage of curse words, and grabbed the blanket, "Eleanor. It's time to get up."

There wasn't any yelling but Elle opened her eyes slowly and fixed a death stare on her that she felt to her bones.

"Honey, it's time to get up," Harper knelt beside the bed. "Jim's been up here rantin' and ravin' that we're all gonna be late. We have to leave in like 10 minutes."

Elle sat up slowly, raking a hand through her messy waves, "I don't think I'm gonna be able to do the challenge today."

Her voice was raspy and she rubbed lightly at her neck. She seemed like she'd been feeling under the weather the day before but Harper made her drink a bunch of tea and she'd hoped that would do the trick.

Harper frowned, "What do you mean? You can't miss it. You could get sent home."

"I know but I feel like I'm dying," Elle croaked out. There's no way I can be up and moving in 10 minutes. My throat is killing me and I think I might have a fever."

Harper reached out to check her forehead but Elle dodged her hand, "I don't want you to get sick too. That won't do us any good."

"You have to at least try," Harper insisted.

"I would if I could but I feel absolutely miserable," the brunette insisted.

"What am I gonna do if you go home?"

"Use your own hair dryer," Elle smirked.

"I'm gonna get Daisy," Harper got up, shaking her head. She had to do something. "Maybe they can get a doctor in here and you can meet us there."

"Harp, calm down," Elle stopped her. "Staying home doesn't mean I automatically get sent home."

She knew it didn't but it certainly increased her chances of being cut.

"Don't worry about me. Get going. Win the challenge. I'll be fine."

Harper put her hands on her hips, feeling uneasy. She was so much more comfortable when Elle was around. She felt like she could be herself more and she didn't think so much about how crazy her being there really was. She also didn't like the idea of leaving a sick friend.

"Seriously, go," Elle pushed, her voice little more than a harsh whisper. "And don't come back without a date."

Harper sighed but the sound of Jim shouting in the hallway spurned her on, "Fine. I will go. But I'm telling Daisy to send you a doctor."

* * *

Elle wandered around the house, trying to enjoy the peace and quiet. She had one cameraman with her and he wasn't even bothering to follow her around. The producers and all of the girls were off at the challenge and Elle was crossing her fingers and toes that whatever it was, Harper would win. That was the whole reason she stayed home. She felt perfectly fine, maybe a little tired. She'd made a show the day before of acting sluggish and coughing a bunch and she only let Harper check her for a fever once when she'd been huddled under blankets long enough to seem a little warm. She didn't enjoy lying to the other girls but it seemed like the right thing to do. The more time she spent with them the more unfair it seemed that she was there taking attention away from them. Jules confided to her the night before that she thought she would be going home soon if she didn't get picked for a date. Abigail was feeling the pressure as well. She'd been quiet and Elle could feel anxiety coming off of her in waves. The show was apparently getting great ratings and they were gaining a decent fanbase, so much so that the girls had been given access to their Instagram accounts and brand new Samsung Galaxy cameras to document their time in the house. Elle overheard Jim and Amy talking and it sounded like they were attributing some of the success to the drama between her and Mia. She knew that if she went to the challenge, the attention wouldn't be on the other girls it would be about the tension and she didn't want to deal with that guilt.

She also hoped that Mia lost almost as much as she hoped for her girls to win.

They'd been gone for a few hours and Elle wondered how much longer it would be. She was getting bored without anyone to talk to. Her mind was going all over the place but inevitably, as it had for days, it kept drifting back to Seth. She kept thinking back to that day outside the car when she teased him with a kiss. Her skin flushed just thinking about it. She kept wondering what would have happened if he'd just kissed her. He obviously wanted to and she would be lying to herself to say that she didn't like knowing the effect she had on him. She couldn't say with complete certainty that she would have pulled away if he'd made a move. That probably made her a bad person but she couldn't help it. Seth was gorgeous and her body reacted whether she liked it or not. That was just body chemistry. It wasn't her fault.

She plopped down on the couch and turned on the WWE Network to distract herself but ended up watching a special about Seth coming back from his injury which only managed to make him more attractive. He was so dedicated to getting back and worked so hard and then seeing him with his adorable dog; it was just too much.

She made her way to the kitchen and started to pour a glass of wine but changed her mind and grabbed a water bottle instead. She didn't want to hear Mia's mouth if she found out she'd polished off a bottle of wine while she was supposed to be sick. She traipsed back into the TV room and curled up on the couch putting on an episode of NXT. As she tapped her nails against her water, she forced thoughts away from Seth and found herself thinking of Ethan. She'd been away from her boyfriend for weeks but this was the first time in days that the image of his clear blue eyes had popped into her head. She was surprised by how little she'd missed him. She missed the rest of her lipstick, Real Housewives, the food at work, her couch, all kinds of trivial things but not Ethan.

It had to be some strange side effect of being in a house full of crazy people. She cared a lot about Ethan. She wouldn't have moved in with him if she didn't. She had some reasonable frustrations that they needed to work through but they could address that when she got back to the real world. Seth would inevitably send her home since she missed the challenge and then things could get back to normal. For the first time, she wondered what Ethan was doing. Did he miss her or was he just going on with life as if she'd never been there? She wanted to believe that he missed her but she didn't _know_ it, deep down, the way she probably should.

She went over to the computers; there was a new station set up where the girls could post their pictures, check emails, feel slightly more connected to the rest of the world. Kai and Emily had been hogging them since they were set up. She logged onto her Instagram, laughing at all the pictures she'd been tagged in. There was a particularly ridiculous one of her on the lawn, posing on a pink inflatable flamingo and trying to look serious which she made her new profile picture. She found herself going down a full on Instagram rabbit hole, looking through and double tapping a bunch of the other girls' pictures. Then she went to the show's account and the most recently posted image featured Elle and Seth holding hands in the limo coming back from the winery. The next was Mia latching her mouth onto his. Elle felt her jaw clench at the image and she quickly scrolled past it.

"God this is so weird," she shook her head. She clicked on another picture of herself and found herself unable to resist the temptation of the comments. It started off well, there were a few people rooting for her. Then it took a turn and when she saw what a wretched bitch she was for the 7th time, she decided comments were no longer a good idea. She had thousands of new followers and it seemed like a third of them hated her. Shaking off her newfound Insta-fame, she found Ethan's page. His agency encouraged it to keep his name out there so he was always very active on social media. Most of his recent pictures were from parties or the beach. Sully appeared many times, as did Layla. The sight of the other woman should have set Elle off but it didn't. She rolled her eyes but that was the most emotion she could muster. She could only get mad over the same thing so many times before she just felt like an idiot. She also didn't have much room to talk considering that if he'd taken a moment at all to look at her page, he would know that she was currently vying for the affections of another man.

"What is my life right now?" she asked herself, shaking her head, scrolling up to 'Message'. They still couldn't have their phones but no one said they couldn't send a DM.

 _Hey. Just wanted to say hi and see how you're doing. I'm sure this whole thing is super weird for you. If you have any questions or if you want to talk about it, just let me know. I should be home this week._

His response came much faster than she expected.

 _ **Hey hot stuff. What whole thing?**_

She was immediately pissed but she took a deep breath and talked herself down. It was possible that he still didn't know. He didn't expect her to be posting anything and he rarely ever sat and scrolled through the accounts he followed so maybe he just hadn't seen anything.

Her fingers hovered over the keyboard as she tried to figure out how to explain the nonsense situation she was living in but before she actually typed anything,, he sent another message.

 _ **The dating show thing? No worries, babe. You do what you gotta do to get that paper. I'll see you when you get home.**_

That was it? He didn't have any questions? He wasn't angry? He thought it was okay to say ' _get that paper_ '?

Her own boyfriend was indifferent to her appearing on a dating show and she missed her couch more than she missed him.

If that didn't speak volumes about the state of their relationship, she didn't know what would.

* * *

 _Just found out I'm going to start interviewing your cast offs on Talking Smack. If any of these girls cry on me, I'm will punch you in the face._

Seth winced as he read the text from Renee. He had no idea if any of the girls would cry but he knew that Renee wouldn't hesitate to follow through on her threat. The show was already more popular than Seth expected it to be and it seemed like the WWE Network brass were trying everything they could think of to capitalize. Seth's already packed press schedule had grew every day.

The day's challenge was an especially entertaining one. The fans would love it when it aired. Chris Jericho and the rest of Fozzy were on-hand as guests and the girls were split into groups and asked to write and perform a metal song dedicated to Seth. The songs were atrocious but the girls tried hard and it was always fun to hang out with Chris. The band selected the team of Harper, Abigail, Emily, and Mia as winners and they would accompany him on a date that evening. He wasn't sure what they were doing but he was sure the catfighting would be endless. The women managed the best song but they barely made it through the challenge without strangling each other.

Sitting in the limo on the way back, Seth was glad to have a few minutes of peace as the women spoke quietly among themselves. It wasn't long, though, before Harper was talking to him about some country band that she thought he might like. He didn't have the heart to tell her that he wouldn't. She was just so sweet and earnest. He'd been right to pick her to stay in the house. Not only was she adorable, she brought some humility to the group.

His phone buzzed and Seth looked down to see a text from Jim who was riding up front with the driver.

 _Ask them who should go home next_

Seth was of two minds when it came to things like this. Part of him thought it was mean to pit these women against each other for the sake of ratings. Another part of him liked to be fought over.

"So ladies, I have to ask, who do you all think should be the next to go home?" he asked, looking around at them. Harper looked like a deer caught in headlights. Seth looked her in the eye, gesturing for her to go first.

She took a deep breath, "Whoever you don't see yourself with. I don't feel comfortable saying anyone's name."

He wasn't surprised by her answer but he could appreciate that Harper stayed true to herself. He never got the feeling that she was just _pretending_ to be nice.

"I would say Abigail," Emily spoke, looking right at the blonde Texan. Abigail glared and Emily shrugged, "Oh calm down. I'm not trying to be confrontational. I just don't see any chemistry there."

Abigail rolled her eyes but refrained from responding, shaking her head instead. Seth was certain that there wasn't a moment in this whole ordeal where Emily was not trying to be confrontational.

"It's _obviously_ Elle," Mia scoffed, visibly annoyed.

Seth looked over at the feisty woman, raising an eyebrow.

"Even if you choose to ignore the fact that she broke a rule and is clearly hiding something, she acts like she's above all of this," Mia explained. "I've seen the two of you together. She tries to play so cool and hard to get. I am here for you and I don't try to hide it. Don't you wonder if it makes you look a little silly that you have to chase one of the girls on your own show?"

Seth considered her words and opened his mouth but she wasn't done.

"You don't have to chase me, Seth," she looked him in the eye. "I'm here to chase you. And I'm going to get rid of every other girl that's in my way, because you're worth that."

Seth wasn't sure what to say when she was done. Mia was staking her claim on him and she didn't care who knew. She'd been consistent from the very beginning, she came to win and anything less would be unacceptable for her. He didn't know what man in their right mind wouldn't be enticed by that kind of fire.

"I agree with Mia."

Everyone in the car turned in confusion when Abigail finally gave her answer. Harper's jaw fell.

"You do?" Mia's voice dripped with amusement.

Abigail fiddled with the hem of her shirt before looking up and nodding, "I do. I don't think Elle is here for the right reasons."

* * *

Elle woke with a start when she heard someone's loud cackle float through the wall and assault her ears. The rest of the women were back. Annoyed as she was at being woken up, she was relieved to have company back in the house. She'd fallen asleep out of sheer boredom. She couldn't wait to see Harper and hear all about the challenge.

She sighed to herself at the revelation, "I really need to get a life."

A light rapping at the door drew her attention and she got up, surprised that someone finally bothered to knock. She took her time traipsing over and somehow she was surprised when she found Seth waiting on the other side. Maybe Mia was right, someone needed to remind her that she was on a TV show.

"Hey," she smoothed down her wrinkled Sasha Banks t-shirt with one hand and tucked her hair behind her ear with the other, "Hey. I wasn't expecting to see you until the ceremony."

"I heard you weren't feeling well, I had to come check on you," he said. He held up a steaming black mug, "I thought maybe you could use this."

"Did you make this?" she asked as he carefully handed over the tea.

"Don't look so surprised," he smirked. "I can boil water."

"I apologize for doubting that. Thank you. This is sweet."

She actually didn't like tea. Her father had always called it dirty water and it stuck with her. She couldn't turn it down though. The gesture was adorable,

"You're very welcome," he sat at the edge of the bed while she curled up near the headboard with both hands wrapped around the mug. She turned the cup in her hands and narrowed her eyes when she spotted his logo.

"Really, Rollins?" she laughed.

He shrugged, "What do you want from me, woman? I tried to do something nice."

"I suppose it's still nice," she took a sip, sliding her feet under the blanket. All of the mugs in their kitchen were WWE branded.

"So what'd you do around here all day?" he asked, toying with the blanket his knuckle grazing her ankle. A shiver went through her and she clutched the mug a little tighter.

"I watched a bunch of episodes of Raw on the network," she answered, trying not to be distracted by having his hand so close. "Is there _supposed_ to be so much sexual tension between you and Stephanie McMahon?"

He laughed, "No, not at all. Steph started as kind of a mentor when I was in the Authority and now she's more of an adversary."

"Well then you should stop playing it like you want to bang her," Elle smirked. "Because that's how it comes across."

She was only half kidding. She truly thought the tension was something they were aiming for. She wouldn't blame Seth if he was attracted to her. Elle was starting to think _she_ was. The woman had great style and she could get the crowd eating out of the palm of her hand.

"No it doesn't," he made a face.

"It definitely does," she insisted. "I can give you some acting lessons if you want to work on it."

"Ooh, private lessons from professional ac _tor_ ," he chuckled. "How could I possibly say no to that?"

"These lessons aren't free," she insisted. "I don't do handouts."

"I think I could give you something you'd want in return," he smiled.

Elle felt her breath catch in her throat and she quickly changed the subject, "So how was the challenge today? Who won? Tell me Harper won."

"It was good and her group did win," he informed her. "She was really worried about you. She made sure to tell me that you wanted to come today but the doctors wouldn't let you."

Leave it to Harper to tell an unnecessary lie. She was going to have a talk with her new friend about helping without being asked.

"So what did they say is wrong?" he asked, sizing her up.

"Dehydration," she answered, taking a sip of her tea. Daisy forced her to see the medic and that was what he came up with. Of course she was dehydrated. All of the girls were. The producers kept the bar stocked and they had _very_ little to do.

"That makes sense," Seth nodded, his dark eyes meeting hers. "That's usually what they tell us in my line of work when there's nothing really wrong."

"Excuse me?" she stared over the top of her tea.

"Oh come on, Elle," he chuckled, "We both know exactly why you didn't come today."

"Because I wasn't feeling well," Elle lied through her teeth. "Harper told you herself."

"And I'm sure Harper believed you," Seth shrugged. "But I don't."

"And why exactly would I fake sick and stay home?" she challenged, crossing her arms. She got up from the bed, creating more space between them. "Do you have any idea how boring this house is when you're alone?"

He answered with a cocky smile, "You like me. I keep telling you this."

She opened her mouth but words failed her for a moment. Alarm bells went off inside her and she felt like there was a neon sign above her head telling him he'd hit the nail on the head. She considered just walking out of the room but she knew that wouldn't do any good. She'd been trying her hardest to hide her attraction to Seth but he made it too hard. And he was so damn perceptive. She wanted to believe that her staying home was out of pure benevolence to her friends but that wasn't the only reason.

"Of course I like you, you're a likeable person," she shrugged.

"You know exactly what I mean," he stood up, stepping toward her. "You came here with your little boyfriend and you thought this was gonna be some cake walk, in and out, no problem. You didn't think you'd actually like me and you do and now you're running scared."

She scoffed and then choked out a scornful laugh again because she didn't know what else to do. He took another step closer to her and she felt the bedside table lamp brush against the back of her shirt.

"I am not scared," she finally managed words.

"I like you all flustered like this," he smirked. "It's cute."

"It really isn't," she shook her head.

"If it makes you feel any better…" he leaned close, whispering in her ear. "I like you too.."

She took her bottom lip between her teeth, anxiously tapping her fingers against her arm. His scent was intoxicating and she could feel his breath and the heat radiating from his skin.

"And I think you want to stay here," he said. "You just don't want to admit it."

Amy popped her head into the room and Elle expected Seth to move away but he didn't move an inch, smiling devilishly at Elle. Something about his smile made one tug at the corners of her own mouth.

"Hey Seth, we need you downstairs," Amy looked back and forth between the two of them.

"I'll be down in just a minute," Seth glanced over at the producer. "Just making sure that Elle is feeling better."

"Okay, just come down ASAP," Amy nodded before making a quick exit.

Seth smiled down at Elle, "I'm gonna level with you because I think we're at a point where we can be honest with each other...I don't care that you didn't do the challenge, I'm still going to give you a necklace at elimination tonight because I don't want you to go anywhere."

Elle could feel her pulse quicken and she licked her lips.

"And if you really aren't scared, then you'll take it," he continued. "But if you take it, I want you here. One hundred percent. No backing out."

He was so close she could feel her eyelids fluttering, her body already responding to his attempt at a kiss. He stopped short, though, opting instead to smile and brush his thumb across her cheek. "I'll see you tonight."

* * *

Harper tapped her fingers on the kitchen island, her eyes trained on Abigail as she poured a glass of wine. She was so tense that her shoulders hurt and if she didn't say something soon she might burst.

"Can I talk to you outside for a minute?" she asked the blonde who looked up at her in surprise.

"Sure hon," Abigail smiled sweetly. She went to grab an empty glass, "You want one?"

"Oh Lord no," she shook her head quickly. "I think I've still got wine coursing through my veins from last night."

Harper led the way outside toward the pool area, turning around once they were out of earshot of the other women. She didn't know why she was being so careful. They had a cameraman right on their asses.

"Okay, I just have to ask, what was that about in the limo?" Harper questioned. She didn't have the patience to beat around the bush. "You tossed Elle right under the bus and didn't look back."

Abigail looked down at her feet and sighed deeply. When she looked back up she shrugged, "Seth asked us a question. I gave an honest answer."

"You don't think Elle is here for the right reasons?" Harper asked. "Why would you say that? We're Elle's friends in the house. Do you know how bad it has to look to Seth that one of us turned on her?"

"I know exactly how it looks," Abigail answered. "You know what else looks bad? Sneaking in a cell phone. How about picking someone you hate to go on your date instead of your so called friend?"

"Daisy told her she could only pick one of us," Harper reminded the other woman.

"If we believe anything Elle says, sure," Abigail shrugged. "But I'm not sure I do anymore. She probably wasn't even sick today. And look where Seth went as soon as we got here, right on up to your room to see her. She's just trying to get attention."

"Why would she stay home to make sure she got attention from Seth?" Harper stared. "Listen to yourself, that doesn't even make any damn sense. Elle has been nothing but a friend to us since we got here."

"She hasn't been our friend at all," the blonde argued. "You're just too naive to see it. She's the one who yelled out that Mia and Emily called me fat in front of the _whole house_."

"Shouldn't you be more mad at the ones who called you fat?"

Abigail continued, ignoring her question, "She immediately befriended you, the nicest girl in the house, so she looks nicer by association. Instead of picking me to go on that date, she picked Mia, knowing it would make her look like the bigger person but she bickers with Mia in the house every chance she gets so she can have all of the TV time."

"She doesn't start the fights, Mia does," Harper declared. Elle had been trying her best to avoid Mia at all costs. Mia was the one who practically followed her around trying to start drama. And befriending Harper was not strategic. She was sure of that. Hell, Elle hadn't even _wanted_ to be her friend at first. Was she the kindest, gentlest person in the world? Absolutely not. But she had a good heart.

"When we leave this house, I guarantee you, you'll never talk to that girl again," Abigail declared. "I don't owe her anything and neither do you."

* * *

Elle stood between Harper and Jules, staring down at her nails. Elimination was due to start any minute and she still had no idea what she was going to do. Seth had given her his terms. If she stayed, that meant she could no longer tell herself that she was there to help Daisy or for the paycheck. For the first time, accepting that necklace would mean one thing and one thing only; she was there for him. The entire time she was getting dressed she was going back and forth on what to do and she just couldn't choose a landing point. She was barely even able to decide what dress to wear.

Seth was right. She liked him. She'd been attracted to him from the moment she saw him. She liked flirting with him and she wasn't sure she wanted that to end. But was this really her? Was she the type of person who actually tried to win a guy on a reality show? Could she compete with Mia for real without actually murdering her? There were just too many questions. She wanted to talk to Seth again but Jim informed them right after they got dressed that the cocktail party was cancelled. The next time they spoke, he'd be asking for a decision and she still didn't have one.

"Stop worrying," Jules tapped her arm. "You're fine. We all are."

"Of course we are," she forced a bright smile and squeezed her hand before resuming her internal panic. What if he was just messing with her? He struck her as a pot stirrer. Maybe he just wanted to get her all worked up and spun into a tizzy so that he could send her home, thoroughly embarrassed.

"Ladies," Corey stepped onto the set, smiling at everyone. Corey was a real calm in the shit storm. He always seemed so even keeled. Except for the few times she'd seen him cornered by Madison; then he looked homicidal but he couldn't be blamed for that. No one liked talking to Madison.

Seth walked up beside Corey in an impeccably tailored charcoal gray suit. He scanned the crowd but his eyes stopped just before Elle.

Corey reminded them of the rules: Seth would call them down one at a time to collect a necklace. The two that he did not gift with a necklace would be going home.

Seth picked up the first necklace, twirling the pendant around in his fingers as he looked over the two rows of women before him.

"Mia."

Mia strutted up to Seth like a proud peacock and Elle wanted to hurl.

Harper was next followed by Kai then Jules and Abigail.

One after another, other women were given their necklaces and Elle's neck started getting warm. It was down to her, Alice, Crystal, and Isabelle. He wasn't looking at her and Elle had no idea what was happening anymore. He told her she was getting a necklace, so why wasn't he saying her name?

"Alice," Seth smiled and the Louisiana native happily walked up to accept.

He changed his mind. He must have. He decided that he didn't want to deal with whatever was happening between them. He had every right to do that. It was his show after all.

"There's only one necklace left. If your name isn't called next, I'm afraid you'll have to leave the house tonight," Corey spoke as if they couldn't count for themselves.

Seth picked up the final necklace and looked down at it, taking a deep breath, "Elle."

The two people in front of her parted to give her room and Elle moved forward.

He smiled when she reached him, "You looked a little nervous up there."

"Well, you took your sweet time calling me," she shrugged.

"Decision time," he held up the necklace. "Are you in or out?"

Elle's gaze traveled from the necklace to Seth's dark eyes and realized. This was it. She was out of time.

She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, blurting out an answer, "In."

She opened her eyes and found Seth looking at her with a surprised smirk, "You're sure?"

Elle nodded. She couldn't deny that there was something there with Seth and if she went home now, she would always wonder 'what if'. She was making a decision that she could very well come to regret but in the moment, she was positive. What did she have to lose?

"I'm sure if you are," she smiled.

His smile spread across his face and lifted the necklace to drape it over her head.

The feel of the cool gold against her skin made her jump and Seth chuckled, taking a small step back, "Looks good on you."

"Crystal, Isabelle, I'm afraid this means you'll be leaving us tonight," Corey spoke. Elle took the cue to move away while the eliminated girls got a quick hug and goodbye from Seth.

"I told you!" Jules rushed up behind Elle, wrapping her arms tightly around her. Harper was next, squeezing them both in a vice like group hug. Abigail was noticeably absent from their celebrating but Elle would have to look into that later. She'd gone through a bit of an emotional rollercoaster over the last few hours and she needed a glass of champagne.

The producers handed out the glasses as Crystal and Isabelle said their goodbyes and hugged a few of the girls. Everyone was speaking excitedly and Elle didn't have time to talk. She downed her glass of Veuve like a shot. When she finished, her eyes drifted toward Seth and she found him looking right at her. They locked eyes and Elle had a feeling they were both thinking the same thing.

Shit just got real.


	12. The Big Game

**Soooooooo sorry for the long wait. Got a promotion. Work has been CRAZY. I hope you enjoy the chapters. Let me know what you think!**

* * *

 _Monday_ …

"This must be what hell is like."

Sheamus and Cesaro cackled obnoxiously from the front seat of their rented Ford Escape.

"I hate both of you," Seth declared from the backseat, crossing his arms over his chest. The tag team champions were driving him absolutely insane singing the terrible song the girls wrote for him on the Jericho episode. After it aired on the network, he could not seem to get away from that damn song.

"This is what you signed up for," Cesaro reminded him with a good natured smile. "You can't get mad."

"Yeah, we didn't make ya decide to be the Bachelor," Sheamus chuckled.

"I'm _not_ The Bachelor," Seth rolled his eyes. He felt like he'd uttered that phrase a thousand times in the last month.

"Same thing," the Irishman shrugged.

Seth knew there was no point in arguing. Instead, he picked up his phone to distract himself. They were almost at the hotel and then he wouldn't have to deal with any more ridicule from his friends.

He opened the Instagram app and, of course, the first thing that popped up in his feed was from the show's account. It was a boomerang photo of Elle, Kai, and Jules. They were sitting at the edge of the pool in matching neon bikinis, flipping their wet hair in unison. Each one of them looked fantastic.

He couldn't believe it but he was actually looking forward to getting back to the house on Tuesday. He had to leave right after elimination the week before and he barely had time for it to sink in that Elle had chosen to stay. For a moment, when he called her up, he'd been convinced that she was going to go home; that somehow he'd been reading everything wrong and she was ready to leave. Instead, she surprised him and accepted the necklace. That meant she was agreeing to his terms. She was there for real.

Her decision gave him a sizable ego boost. There were few things he loved more than being proven right.

"Home, sweet home," Sheamus announced as he pulled the truck into the hotel lot.

"For the next 8 hours," Cesaro laughed.

Cesaro clapped obnoxiously as Sheamus and Seth unloaded their bags from the car. He was always complaining that Seth was too slow. Seth didn't believe he deserved scorn just because he didn't drink so much coffee that he couldn't stop moving every moment of every day.

Once everything was unloaded, they headed into the lobby and Cesaro rushed to the desk to be the first one to check in with the lone woman working the desk. Sometimes he could be a real asshole.

Sheamus was busy playing Temple Run on his phone and Seth knew there was no tearing him away once he started. He looked down at his own phone again until the screen was blocked by an unfamiliar hand. He looked up, annoyed until he found a gorgeous blonde looking up at him.

* * *

"Hotel food sucks."

Sasha rolled her eyes when Alexa Bliss dropped her fork onto the plate in front of her, her sharp features twisted into a frown. She wasn't exactly wrong, some hotels didn't excel in the culinary department but it had been a long drive and Sasha didn't want to deal with a Bliss-fit.

"She's right, this is especially terrible," Bayley grimaced.

"No one told you to get meatloaf," Sasha chastised her friend. She was perfectly happy with her sandwich and fries. They were hard to screw up. "Meatloaf, by definition, is terrible."

"I think we should just get to go boxes for this garbage and head upstairs to watch the show," Nia Jax declared from her seat beside Alexa. They'd made a habit of watching new episodes of Seth's show together and they were all anxious to watch the most recent one. They'd all heard it was hilarious.

"I think that is a fantastic idea," Bayley agreed. "I can't wait to see what the challenge with Jericho is. It's gotta be something musical."

"If the songs are anything like that horrendous poem, I'm ready to download them immediately," Nia laughed. "Plus, I bet my girl Elle will kill it. She said she's done musical theater."

Sasha agreed that Elle would likely do great in a musical challenge. She also knew first hand that even if she didn't, Seth would keep her around anyway. He liked the young actress. He got all moony eyed whenever he talked about her. Sasha was pleased when The New Day had nothing but great things to say about her, and most of the girls with the exception of Mia and her minions.

"I don't think it matters what the challenge is, if Seth has half a brain, he'll pick Elle no matter what," Alexa declared.

"I would've assumed you were Team Mia," Sasha smirked.

"Why? Because she's blonde and bitchy?" Alexa raised an eyebrow.

Sasha shrugged, "Pretty much."

"Well _I_ am Team Harper," Bayley announced, as though they didn't already know of her fondness for the redhead.

Nia rolled her eyes, "We know. You like the nice one. Try to be less predictable, girl."

Their conversation continued and Sasha flagged the waiter for their check but he seemed too busy to bring it to them at the moment. Sasha heard the sound of someone clearing her throat unusually close behind her and she turned to see a man in a dark suit standing behind her chair with a glass of what smelled like scotch. He grinned when she turned and Sasha struggled not to roll her eyes. He didn't strike her as a fan and there couldn't be too many reasons for him to wander up to their table.

"Hi," she sighed, waiting for him to explain his presence.

"I couldn't help but notice such a gorgeous group of women," he said. He was attempting a smoldering eye look but it came across as though he left his glasses wherever he came from. Of course he noticed them, it's not like Sasha's magenta colored hair was hard to miss.

The man placed his hand on Sasha's shoulder, "May I buy you a drink, maybe get to know you a little?"

"Honey, no," Sasha shook her head. "I'm married."

She would have said no even if she wasn't but she didn't need to tell him that.

He turned his eyes to Alexa, his smile spreading wider, "Would you maybe be up for a drink and some conversation?"

"Are you kidding me?" Alexa glared. "I literally just watched you ask someone else first. Is this a joke?"

"You should really walk away," Nia advised when he dared to look at her. "There's no way this gets better for you but it could definitely get worse."

Bayley nodded in agreement and the dejected man rolled his eyes and turned to walk away. He muttered something but Sasha chose to ignore it. She was tired and couldn't be bothered to care about his sour grapes.

"Is that Seth?" Nia pointed in the direction the man had gone and Sasha turned, looking out into the lobby. Seth was standing in line at the front desk, talking to a cute blonde. Cute by Seth's standards, not Sasha's.

"Who's that girl?" Bayley asked.

"Who knows," Sasha sighed, tossing her napkin onto the table as she got up. Of course, she couldn't just get her check and go watch her show. Now she had to keep Seth from being..Seth.

"Do you want backup?" Nia questioned.

Sasha shook her head, passing the guy they'd turned down as she headed out the door. She sauntered over to Seth and the blonde, crossing her arms and putting on her fiercest expression. She stopped beside Seth, her gaze fixed on the woman, "Would you excuse us please? I need to talk to him."

"Sure, I can wait," the stranger agreed.

"That won't be necessary," Sasha's tone was clipped and she used her eyebrows to convey her point.

The other woman looked annoyed but Seth didn't attempt to help her out so she seemed to get the hint.

"I'm sorry," he finally spoke when the blonde stared at him. "Maybe some other time."

"Probably not," Sasha interjected.

"Was that really necessary?" Seth asked once the outsider was gone.

"Yes, stupid, it was," she answered, roughly pushing his shoulder.

"She was just a fan," he insisted.

"Oh I'm sure I can guess what she's a fan of," Sasha shook her head. "Listen, I did you a favor. We both know you don't have a lot of will power."

"I don't need to have willpower," he laughed. "I'm a single man."

"Who is currently starring on a dating show," she reminded him. "I can't believe I have to remind you of this but it wouldn't look very good for a story to come out about you getting caught hooking up with some rando. Are you trying to jeopardize my dream guest appearance? Do you understand how invested everyone is in this thing?"

"By everyone, do you mean you?" Seth smirked.

"Of course I mean me," she confirmed. "I still haven't even heard when I'm going to be on and you swore you would make sure it happens."

"And I'm working on it."

"Oh yeah, you seem to be working really hard on it," she crossed her arms. "Isn't dating a house full of girls enough for you?"

"I'm not dating all of them Sash," he laughed. "I've still barely talked to some of them."

"And whose fault is that?"

"Uh oh, what did you do to Sasha?" Cesaro came over, putting his arm over her shoulders. "She only looks at you like that when you do something stupid."

"She looks at _me_ like that all the time," Sheamus laughed.

"Only because you give me so many reasons to," she reached up, patting the Irishman on the cheek. "Now come on. You can help us finish this terrible food."

She turned, certain that they would follow her.

"You really know how to entice a man, Sash," Sheamus trailed behind.

"I know you don't turn down food," she tossed back at him, leading him to the table.

"Well look what the cat dragged in," Nia flashed her gorgeous smile and scooted over so they could add chairs.

"Oh good, Seth's here," Alexa reached back and pulled a chair from another table, setting it next to her. "I have a lot of things to talk to you about. Nia and I want to be on your show."

* * *

Elle looked around the yard, counting to make sure she had the right number of sleeping bags. A bunch of the girls were feeling homesick and she'd come up with the bright idea to go camping in the yard. They were all getting stir crazy. Elle was amazed that she'd managed to hold on to her sanity. There always seemed to be a line for everything. It was like being in the world's worst nightclub.

She convinced Jim to let her start the fire herself while he set up the sleeping bags and camping chairs and soon Jules, Harper, Kai and Kayla had joined her outside. In her normal life, on a Monday night, she'd be scouring casting notices like a mad woman or running around the restaurant, trying to take every table she could so she could rack up on tips. Instead, she was throwing a party in the backyard of a beautiful mansion with her strange group of new friends and acquaintances. They were literally sitting around braiding each other's hair, half of them buzzed after Jules made them play a Michael Cole drinking game when they watched an old episode of Raw on the network.

"So what do we think the next challenge is gonna be?" Kayla asked.

"I don't know but I'm hoping it's puzzles or something I know I can beat you bitches at," Jules teased.

"Rude," Elle laughed, shooting her a look.

"Who do you think the guest will be?" Harper asked.

"I hope it's AJ Styles," Kayla admitted.

A few of the girls gave her a questioning look and she shrugged, "I just want to know what his hair smells like. And what conditioner he uses."

More names were tossed around but Elle couldn't focus on special guests. She wasn't especially concerned with who she got to meet. She was, however, having conflicting feelings about Seth's impending arrival. She was both excited and anxious to see him. There was still some part of her that wondered if she'd made the right decision to stay. She wasn't used to competing for a man's attention. That didn't mean that she considered herself so irresistible that no man around her was safe. She had never felt the drive to compete. There were millions of men on Earth. She didn't see the point of fighting over one but when Seth looked her in the eye and asked her to stay that night, 'yes' felt like the right answer. He intrigued her and she wasn't ready to step away. She just wasn't sure how ready she would be for what was to come.

"This was a great idea," Harper said, holding up a compact mirror and admiring the set of French braids Elle was in the process of weaving with her copper locks.

"Yeah, we all need a night to relax before we're at each other's throats again tomorrow," Kai smirked, drinking from a bottle of water. Kai was actually pretty consistently above the fray. She occasionally butted heads with Emily but she always walked away . Stupid, beautiful Kai and her cool head.

"I can't wait to see Seth," Harper grinned. "You know, when I signed up for this, I didn't think there was any way I would make it this far but I think I may actually be making a connection with him. This is going a lot better than I expected."

"I wasn't sure _what_ I was getting myself into," Jules laughed. "But I got to meet Enzo so whatever happens, it was worth it."

Elle looked around for the band to tie off Harper's second braid and her eye's wandered into the house once she found it. Abigail stood in the kitchen with Mia, Alice, and Emily. It was still a strange sight to see the Texan palling around with the house's resident crew of witches. Elle had been so out of sorts leading up to their last elimination that she didn't even notice how distant Abigail was acting until after it was over. She was surprised when Harper told her what happened on the group date. She tried to talk to the other woman about it but Abigail was avoiding her like the plague. Elle felt guilty at first but when she started hanging out with the girl that called her a cow, Elle decided she wouldn't devote too much energy to it. She was disappointed but she wasn't going to cry over it.

Jim was in the kitchen as well and Elle smiled when she saw the producer coming out with the tray of wine slushies they'd requested. He seemed to truly hate fulfilling her requests which just made it more fun for her to ask.

"Finally," Kayla grinned, standing up to meet him and take the tray. "These look delicious."

Jules laughed, getting up and getting slushies for herself, Harper, and Elle, "This is the most basic bitch, Pinterest camping party ever and I am so here for it."

Elle laughed, accepting her drink, "Everyone has a little basic in them, whether they admit it or not."

* * *

 _The Next Morning_ _…_

In quite possibly the most intrusive thing that had _ever_ happened to her, Elle was startled out of her sleep by the sound of a bullhorn siren. She shot up in bed, mind racing as it tried to figure out what the hell was happening. Were they at war? Was there an Earthquake coming? There was music playing, something about getting hype or staying hype. Her brain struggled to sort out all of the terrible sounds. She pushed up her sleep mask and found Harper looking equally startled, her hand pressed against her chest. The music just grew louder, as did the siren and Elle could feel a venomous anger beginning to course through her veins.

"What the fuck is happening?" she yelled up at the camera mounted in the corner of the room. She knew no one would answer but she didn't care. It needed to be on record that she was _pissed_.

The door to their bedroom burst open, smacking against the wall and Jules stood at the door, jumping up and down with her dark eyes popping out of her head.

"What's going on?" Harper yelled, cringing at the rising noise level.

"Get up, bitches!" Jules grinned. "It's challenge day!"

Jules was still jumping like a maniac and then a gigantic man appeared behind her, bouncing like Tigger. It took a moment for Elle to recognize Mojo Rawley through her tired rage. His offensively bright 'Bro Me' shirt and Zubaz were what gave him away since he was jumping so high she could barely see his face.

"GOOD MORNING, LADIES!" he came into the room, yelling through the bullhorn. "We need everybody dressed and down on the lawn in 10 minutes!"

He yelled something else on the way out but she couldn't make it out. Elle felt like she'd just been swept up in an audio tornado. She looked over at Harper again and found the redhead rubbing her ears.

"I think I hate him," Elle attempted to run a hand through her tangled hair.

"That doesn't surprise me," Harper drawled, throwing off her covers. "Come on, grouchy pants. You heard the man, we've only got 10 minutes."

"This is bullshit," Elle grumbled, following her friend out into the hall. The music was still blasting and there were half dressed women running through the halls like some kind of strange music video. Emily came barreling toward them and smashed into Harper's shoulder, nearly knocking her over. Elle rolled her eyes and opened her mouth to speak.

"Watch where you're going, you psycho!" Harper yelled after the blonde.

Elle 's jaw dropped and she could not even begin to contain the joy she got from the startled look on Emily's face

"I have never been more proud of another human being," Elle grinned.

Harper laughed, gently pushing Elle ahead, toward the Glam Room, "Hurry up and get ready."

* * *

"How does it feel to know you're gonna be responsible for these girls tearing each other apart today?"

Seth considered Corey's question for a moment before shrugging, "I'm okay with it."

He was excited for the challenge. It had everything he could want. Gorgeous women in skimpy outfits and football. If he couldn't enjoy this part of the show then what was he even there for?

Sasha was going to have his head when she found out that Mojo and Zack were guests before her. He barely even liked either of them but the WWE and the producers were in charge of picking the guests. He'd been assured that there was a plan in place for his friend to appear on the show. He just didn't know when.

The women started filing out onto the lawn and Zack nudged Seth with a grin, "How did you swing this, bro?"

"I didn't even want to do it," Seth admitted.

"I'll take your place any time," Zack laughed. "Right now if you want."

The 10 minute mark had passed and Seth counted two women still missing. He saw Jim go stalking off toward the house. Before he got there, Harper and Elle came out the door. Harper looked apologetic while Elle's visage was one of pure irritation. He was quickly learning that she was _not_ a morning person.

"Thanks for finally deciding to join us, ladies," Mojo called to them.

"It took you girls 14 minutes," Zack added.

Elle cocked her head and raised her eyebrows, ready to respond, but Harper jumped in front of her with a sweet smile, "We're so sorry. Won't happen again."

They joined the rest of the group and when Elle's eyes met his, he smiled and winked. She rolled her eyes but he saw the corner of her mouth tick upward. He didn't realize just how much he'd been itching to see her until she was standing 20 feet in front of him.

"Ladies, welcome to your next challenge," Corey smiled and most of the girls cheered. "I trust that you recognize our guests, Mojo Rawley and Zack Ryder."

"It's come to my attention that we have a pretty competitive group of women here," Seth smirked. "And I know that there's been some tension in the house so I brought along my friends, the Hype Bros to help everyone channel that energy into a friendly game of football."

Jules clapped her hands together eagerly.

"Mojo and Zack will serve as your coaches. They'll select two team captains who will then choose their teams playground style," Corey explained. He pointed to a table overflowing with neon pink and yellow gear provided by Tapout and informing the girls that they would find their uniforms there. "You'll play four quarters and the MVP, selected by your coaches will win the first solo date with Seth."

"Does anyone have any questions?" Seth asked.

"I look terrible in neons," Mia raised her hands. "Are there any other color options?"

"I'm afraid not," Corey answered quickly. "But I'm sure you'll find a way to make it work. Gentlemen, you flipped a coin earlier and Mojo won so you'll be the first to select your captain."

"Well, since I had _14 minutes_ to think about it, my decision is simple," Mojo said. "I'm gonna go with the most _hype_ girl I met in the house this morning, the lovely Jules."

"YES!" Jules pumped her fists in the air and ran toward Mojo who chest bumped her and had to reach out to keep her from falling.

"I'm gonna go with Kai," Zack smiled and received a much calmer response when the Hawaiian walked over and gave him a high five.

The captains did the rest of the selections and it was no surprise to see Jules select Elle and Harper. Jim stepped in for a moment, claiming to be fixing Kai's microphone but Seth could see him whispering to her and pointing to the girls who hadn't been chosen. Immediately after, Kai selected Emily and then Mia.

Seth wished them luck and then Corey instructed them to grab their gear from the table. Jules' team would be in pink and Kai's in yellow.

Seth turned to Corey, "Do you get the feeling that Jules gets more excited for the guests than she does for me?"

"Absolutely," Corey laughed. "I thought she was gonna faint when she saw Enzo. She's obviously a terrible judge of character."

"You do remember that she's here to date me, right?" Seth arched a brow.

"I do," Corey smirked. "I think Elle's the one who's got it right today. She's excited to see Mojo as I am."

"Come on now, Graves, you know you love your boy," Mojo came over, reaching out to muss Corey's hair. The announcer ducked and gave him murderous glare.

"That is a great group of girls," Zack marveled, watching as they headed inside. "My captain is one of the hottest girls I've ever seen. What is she even doing here?"

"Thanks man," Seth rolled his eyes.

"And that's how you decided who to pick?" Corey asked.

"That's why your team is gonna lose," Mojo pointed. "You're not focused on the game. I got the most hype captain. Plus, I got that girl that wants to punch me in the face. She's clearly got a lot of aggression to work through."

Seth laughed at Mojo's astute observation. He hoped that Mojo's instincts were right. He wanted Elle to win that date.

* * *

"Okay this thing is like 2 sizes too small," Elle grimaced, forcing her breasts into the hot pink and black sports bra.

"Mine too," Harper frowned and a few of the other girls piped up in agreement.

"Sorry girls, men watch the show too," Producer Amy shrugged. "You've got 30 minutes."

"That explains these," Jules held up a pair of the tiny shorts they were given. "I have serious concerns about the feminism of all of the women that work on this show."

"I'm pretty sure anyone _watching_ the show has concerns about _our_ feminism," Elle pointed out. They weren't exactly pillars of the movement in their current situation. The rest of their outfits consisted of Tapout crop tops and elbow and knee pads. Mia had rounded up Kai's team on one side of the glam room. They were coating themselves in body bronzer, adding to their makeup, and primping their hair.

Once Jules caught sight of their actions, she went through some of the stations, grabbing a few pots of black gel eyeliner. She tossed one to Elle and another to Kayla, "We are not about to play this like it's a princess party. I want black strips under everyone's eyes, hair in braids. Now."

"Yes ma'am," Elle saluted, setting about helping the rest of her team get ready. Once their half hour was up, they had to take a bus to the field where their game would take place.

Elle was delighted to see that Daisy would be traveling with them. She took a seat beside her friend in the very last row, "Hey there. I figured you'd be at the field already."

"We got everything all set up before we woke you guys up this morning," Daisy explained. "There's really nothing for us to do until you're there. Besides, I wanted to get a few minutes to talk to you without your mic on."

"Why? Is something wrong?" she asked.

"No, everything is fine," Daisy assured her. "Although I do need you and Seth to stop talking about your…situation with Ethan so openly. You do remember that there are cameras all over that house, right?"

"Well you need to tell Seth that because he was the last one to bring it up," Elle insisted.

"I already have talked to him," Daisy said. "He didn't seem to be listening."

"Not surprised," Elle scoffed. "He doesn't seem like the type to listen when he's not hearing what he wants. Honestly, I completely forgot about the wall camera in my room when he came up after the last challenge. He's...distracting."

Daisy's lips spread into a wicked smile, "I knew from the beginning that you liked him. I knew it."

"Okay, relax," Elle waved her away. "There's no need to get all excited."

"I disagree," Daisy shrugged. "Still, you need to be careful. You're lucky our EP likes you and he made sure to have the editors cut around the Ethan talk and keep in all the good stuff. He also agreed to look past your breaking the rules again."

"What did I do now?"

"DM'ing Ethan?" Daisy raised an eyebrow.

"Did you log in to my Instagram again?" Elle questioned, slightly annoyed. The invasions of privacy were getting out of hand.

A loud laugh interrupted their conversation and Elle rolled her eyes when she realized it was coming from Abigail and her new best friends.

"So what happened with you guys?" Daisy looked concerned. "I thought you were getting along really well."

"Didn't you just remind me that there are cameras all over the house?" she questioned. "Don't you already know what happened?"

"I know that it seems like she got jealous of you and Seth," Daisy looked disappointed.

"There's nothing to be jealous of," Elle shrugged. "I'm in the same position as all of these girls which is still making me question my sanity, by the way."

"You and I both know that you're not in exactly the same position," Daisy spoke quietly. "No one else has had a secret late night conversation with Seth when all the cameras were gone."

"We didn't set that up, it just happened," Elle reminded her friend. "Anyway, Abigail has chosen a new team and there's nothing I can do about that. I guess she was more upset about me not taking her on the winery date than I realized."

"You know that was the right move," Daisy insisted. "Seth loved that you picked Mia and you had a great time."

"Yeah and then he kissed Mia," Elle rolled her eyes. "That was definitely a great choice that you forced me to make."

"Okay, the kiss thing wasn't great but it didn't happen again so that's a good sign," Daisy smiled. "

"That is deeply comforting, thank you," Elle's tone was dry as she tried to adjust her ridiculously tight top.

"Listen, since the two of you are on opposite teams today, this is a great opportunity for you to play up the drama," Daisy said. "Really go after Mia."

"Excuse me? What exactly are you suggesting?"

"Oh come on, you haven't been thinking all morning about how you actually get a chance to get your hands on Mia?"

"I can't stand her but I still have to live with that harpy," Elle laughed. "I'm not just gonna haul off and punch her."

"Just think about it," Daisy said. "It would get us great ratings."

Elle narrowed her eyes, watching as her friend pulled out her phone and started typing a message. She was beginning to dislike Work Daisy.

* * *

"COME ON!"

Seth cringed as Mojo screamed at his team. Jules and Kai were both serving as terrible quarterbacks and the defense wasn't much better. They were passionate but inaccurate. Emily had just scored a touchdown, running right past Elle, who was the only one on her team guarding the end zone. After each score, there was a time out and Seth couldn't hear what Mojo was saying but he was gesturing wildly, his face growing more red by the moment. The pink team was down 2 scores. Most of the girls looked frustrated. They were breathing hard and sweating. Jules looked ready to chew through metal. Elle looked annoyed. Every time Mojo spoke in her direction, she seemed to be biting back a snarky comment.

"Hey 32!" He called out the number on the back of her skimpy shirt. "Can I talk to you for a second?"

"She's busy right now!" Mojo shouted.

Elle rolled her eyes, walking past her coach and standing beside Seth. She had a smudge of dirt on her cheek and he was tempted to wipe it away.

"You enjoying the game?" she asked, crossing her arms and creating perhaps the most enticing image he'd ever seen.

"More than you are, obviously," he smirked. "What are you even doing out there?"

"Football. What does it look like I'm doing?" she glared at him. She jerked her thumb toward the field, "You want to throw on a sports bra and come join us?"

"Believe me, I'm not fitting into those little shorts," he smirked at the intrigued look that flashed across her face at his response. "But you look amazing in them."

"I do what I can," she shrugged, shifting her weight to one foot. "Did you just call me over here to get a better look?"

"That was just a bonus," he smirked. "I called you over here to ask why you're sucking so much."

The cocky smirk on her face fell and she slapped him on the arm, "Screw you, Rollins. I do not suck."

"You let Emily score that touchdown," he shrugged. "She skated right past you. I expected better from a fellow Midwesterner."

"She got around me, even the most wretched people are capable of occasional successes," she shrugged.

"I don't think that's why she scored on you," Seth shook his head, meeting her eyes. " _I_ think you're scared to win."

"What are you talking about?" she asked with an exasperated sigh.

"I'm talking about you being afraid to go on a real date with me," he answered, leaning closer to her.

She leaned in as well, speaking just above a whisper, "Real dates don't involve cameras. And you can't call me scared anymore. I took the necklace. I told you I'm in."

"I know and I'm happy about that. Trust me," he said. "But I can call you scared when you're not playing to win."

He knew that he was right by the way she subtly bit the inside of her cheek. She was tapping her fingers on her arms, her brown eyes fixed on his.

"You were ready to kick my ass at the winery when I said cheerleading wasn't a sport. Now I give you something athletic to do and you're pussy footin' around,"

"You don't know what you're talking about," she returned.

"Then prove me wrong," he shrugged. "All you have to do is win."

"Fine, then I will," she snipped.

"Fine, then I'll see you on a date tonight, sweetheart," he smiled.

"You will," she turned to walk away. She quickly turned back, pointing at him, "Don't call me sweetheart."

He put up his hands, "Won't happen again."

He hoped she followed through on her promise because he couldn't wait to rub in her face how easily he'd just played her.

He didn't miss the extra sway in her walk when she left. She knew he was looking and he couldn't even attempt to look away. When she reached her team, she whispered something to Jules and the other woman smiled and nodded. Mojo didn't have time to ask what was going on as the girls were called back out onto the field. On the next play, instead of another abysmal pass, Jules handed the ball off to Elle. Mojo was in an absolute panic, shouting at his team to stick to the play he called. Elle yelled at Harper to block Abigail and the redhead did and admirable job, pushing the blonde out of the way and creating a perfect hole for Elle to run through. Elle moved with a speed she hadn't shown all day as she raced toward Team Ryder's end zone.

"Go! GO!" Mojo shouted, running along the sideline.

Emily was the last defender with a shot at her and Seth rubbed his hands together, eager to see who would win out. They were pretty close in size and Emily had a pronounced mean streak which could make her dangerous. Elle was running straight at Emily and just as the blonde lowered her shoulder to attempt the tackle, Elle spun away, speeding into the end zone untouched.

Elle casually walked out of the end zone, passing Emily and softly tossing the ball back over her shoulder. She flashed a smug smile in Seth's direction before she was swarmed by her team.

Mojo ran out onto the field, lifting her up over his shoulder and racing around, high fiving the other women.

Now they had themselves a game.

* * *

Elle took a knee beside Jules in the huddle along with the rest of their team. She was out of breath and absolutely filthy but she was actually having a great time.

"Okay ladies," Mojo clapped his hands together. "We are up one score thanks to the Barbie Beast."

He roughly patted Elle on the head and she shook her head at the nickname. She didn't bother to tell him that she looked a lot closer to Barbie's brunette friend, Teresa. There was no way he'd know what she was talking about anyway.

"They're probably gonna try for a hail Mary and chuck it toward the end zone," Mojo explained. "Jules, I want you and Elle guarding the deep ball. If they catch it and come at you, I want you to drop your shoulders and lower the boom. Understood?"

"We got it," Jules clapped excitedly.

"Everybody else, you're blocking the run," Mojo ordered.

When they lined up, Elle found herself across from Mia. She was surprised as she'd been matched up with Emily for most of the game.

"I couldn't miss an opportunity to beat you," Mia smiled, obviously detecting Elle's moment of confusion. "I already got the first kiss. It's only right that I get the first solo date."

Elle slipped her mouthpiece in, choosing not to respond. She wouldn't give Mia the satisfaction. Instead, she simply winked at her and waited for the snap.

Once the ball was snapped, Elle backpedaled toward the pink end zone as Mojo instructed to defend the deep ball. Just as her coach predicted, Kai chucked a wobbly pass toward Mia. Elle dropped back a few extra steps for momentum and then launched herself toward her nemesis just as she caught the ball. She could hear Mojo freaking out as Mia fell, fumbling the ball. Elle scrambled to pick it up, seeing Kai racing toward her. She ducked the Hawaiian, heading toward Team Ryder's end zone. Harper blocked the living hell out of Emily and Elle thought she was home free until she felt someone wrap their arms around her legs, sending her flying forward. Her elbows and the ball were the only things that kept her face from smacking into the ground. A loud buzzer signaled the end of the game and Elle turned over to see that she'd been taken down by Abigail. Fortunately, it didn't matter. She'd secured the win for Team Mojo.

"YES! YEEESSSSSS!"

Elle screeched when Mojo came flying toward her, scooping her up from the ground. Once again, he tossed her over his shoulder and she laughed as he proved himself to be an incredibly ungracious winner, running past all of the dejected members of Team Ryder. Elle spotted Abigail helping Mia toward the sideline and when the blondes glared at her, she waved and gave them her absolute sweetest smile.

God, she loved winning.

Mojo put Elle down so that she could celebrate with her housemates and Jules and Harper were on her in an instant shouting praise. She looked past them for a moment and caught sight of Seth standing beside Corey looking extremely pleased with himself. When he caught her looking, her gave her a thumbs up and mouthed 'I knew you could do it'.

She shrugged, playing off the annoying flutter that she felt when she remembered what was at stake. Whoever the coaches selected would be going on a date with Seth.

After the girls were allowed to drink some Gatorade and recover for a few minutes, they were lined up for the announcement. Now that the adrenaline had worn off, Elle was feeling the effects of the game. She was certain that after the hard tackles and Mojo tossing her around like a rag doll, she was going to be covered in bruises. She had a scraped knee and scratches all over. Her elbow felt like she'd been hit with a baseball bat. Poor Harper had a bruise forming on her cheek. Most of the girls were in rough shape.

Mojo stood beside Elle, patting her on the top of her head, "You did good out there."

"Thanks," she laughed, swatting his hand away. She couldn't believe that she'd come around on him after wanting to murder him for waking her up. He wasn't completely awful now that she was wide awake. She still wasn't sure who the coaches would choose as the individual winner. She knew she kicked ass after her little pep talk from Seth but Jules had been playing hard the whole game so she wasn't a lock.

The teams stood beside their coaches, still covered in dirt and grime.

"Congratulations to Team Mojo on a hard earned victory today," Seth clapped once the cameras were rolling again. "I am _extremely_ impressed with the toughness that you all showed today. It's good to know that you guys are willing to put up a good fight for me."

"The winning team will receive a full wardrobe of activewear from our sponsors at Tapout," Corey announced.

"And Jules, as the captain, you will be featured in a promotional photo shoot with me for the Tapout website," Seth smiled.

Elle and Harper both hugged Jules tightly, excited for their friend. The New York native was practically bouncing out of her shoes.

"Now for the most important prize," Corey drew attention back to him. "Mojo and Zack have deliberated and whoever they select as the MVP will be going on a solo date with Seth later today. Gentleman, and I use that term loosely for you Mojo, the floor is yours."

Elle pulled her bottom lip under her teeth, and then released it, blowing out a deep breath. She was nervous, a fact that she _hated_ admitting even to herself, but she didn't want to show it. She hazarded a glance over at Seth and he gave her a smile that somehow calmed her _and_ made her more nervous.

"It's gonna be one of you," Harper encouraged Jules and Elle, grabbing their hands.

"Well...It was a tough choice," Zack began. "All of you ladies played your butts off."

"We talked about it and decided that we have to give the MVP to the girl who was all over the field and really brought the win home for her team," Mojo spoke, holding a cheesy trophy. "It's gotta be the Barbie Beast, Elle."

Elle pumped her fist and felt Harper patting her on the back. She couldn't resist looking over at Mia, her grin spread from ear to ear when she saw how angry the blonde looked. The only thing that could be better than winning the date was making sure that Mia didn't.

"Come on, let's get a picture with the trophy," Mojo handed her the trophy. He stood on one side of her shouting about doing it for the 'Gram and Zack stood on her other side rolling his eyes. Elle was exhausted and she desperately wanted a shower but she figured a few pictures wouldn't hurt. Mojo handed his phone to Jules who stepped back to take the picture.

"Say Hype Bros!" Jules grinned and just as she was about to oblige, Elle felt a cold shock hit her and a wave of red liquid covered her face. She gasped at the sensation and turned to see Seth and Corey laughing and holding the large tub that once housed the Gatorade she found herself coated in.

"Oh you motherfuckers," she glared, handing her trophy off to Mojo.

"I told you I'd get you back for that dunk tank," Seth pointed at her.

Elle wanted to be furious but he did owe her for that. Still, being covered in dirt was bad enough and now she was sticky on top of it.

"Don't be mad at me," he got close to her, surprising her when he wrapped his arms around her, holding her arms down at her sides. He didn't seem to care at all about how gross and dirty she was.

"Are you trying to hug me or keep me from kicking your ass?" she teased, pretending she wasn't thoroughly enjoying the feel of his rigid muscles pressed against her.

He offered up another one of his charming smiles, "Both."

A flash of white in caught her attention and she turned as Corey, in his white blazer, tried to sneak past her.

"Graves!" she yelled, twisting out of Seth's grasp. "I expected better from you."

"It was Seth's idea!" he put his hands up. "I'm sorry."

Elle looked down at herself and then back to his crisp, tailored clothes, "Oh you will be."


	13. The Double Date

"Do I really have to wear this?"

Seth stared disapprovingly down at this 'Kiss The Cook' apron that Jim gave him; not exactly what he imagined wearing on his first date with Elle.

"Of course you have to wear it," Jim sighed. "Why else would I have given it to you?"

"Bad joke?" Seth suggested. "I wouldn't blame you. I have a great laugh."

"Your date is a cooking class," Jim grabbed the apron, looping the top over Seth's head. "So you're wearing the apron. Elle will love it."

"You're lucky I can pull off anything," Seth tied the strings behind his back. He turned, catching a glimpse of his reflection on the refrigerator door, "Almost anything."

"'So Daisy's about 5 minutes out with Elle. When she comes in, you give her a warm, happy greeting-"

"Jim, I know how to behave like a human being," Seth interrupted.

Jim just kept going like a steamroller, "The instructor will walk you through everything. You'll taste the food and then you'll have your meal at a beautifully decorated table outside. Seth tuned Jim out. He felt like the producers were always trying so hard to manufacture moments that they forgot they were dealing with real people who somehow managed to function when they weren't around.

The crew members lifted their cameras so Seth assumed Elle was on her way in. All of a sudden he couldn't keep his hands still. His fingers felt twitchy and he shoved his hands in the pockets on the front of his stupid apron.

When Elle came in to the kitchen, she looked confused and he assumed no one told her the plan for the date. When he saw her, Seth forgot about Jim and the crew. She looked amazing in a simple, body hugging white tank dress under a chunky tan cardigan. Her dark hair hung in damp, drying waves draped over one shoulder.

She smiled when she saw him and he walked over, giving her a hug.

"Ow, be gentle," she winced.

He pulled away, keeping his hands gingerly on her shoulders.

"We're all pretty beat up," she explained. "Lots of ice going around the house right now."

He could see a few bruises forming on her collarbone and a scratch on the side of her neck. He also thought he saw a white bandage peeking through her sweater around her right elbow.

"You girls played a lot dirtier than I expected," he admitted. "Do you want me to get you some ice now?"

"No, thanks, I'll be okay," she smiled. "Although if you really _want_ to wait on me hand and foot, I won't fight you."

"That can be arranged," he smiled, reaching out to tuck a stray lock of hair around her ear. Her eyes fluttered closed at his touch.

"You know, I would have been here earlier but it takes a long time to wash the smell of gatorade out of your hair," she caught his hand, lacing her fingers with his.

"Well you did a good job because you smell incredible," he kept her hand in his, draping his arm over her shoulders as he led her further into the kitchen. "And I'm not apologizing because you deserved that Gatorade bath. You brought it on yourself."

She laughed, smacking him in the ribs, "You are such a jerk. What are we doing here?"

"We're taking a cooking class," he explained, gesturing down to the apron.

She made a face and he laughed, "I know. Trust me, I wouldn't have picked it either."

"I don't think you're supposed to tell me that," she laughed, pointing over at a deeply frowning Jim.

"I am not a part of the show, Elle," he reminded her.

"You are to me, Jim," she returned.

"Can you behave yourself for a few hours?" Seth leaned close, whispering to her as the instructor came in and started setting up. "You're always getting me into trouble here."

She grinned up at him, "I'll try if you will."

* * *

Elle couldn't believe she was having so much fun doing something she usually failed at so miserably. She was able to cook well enough to survive, sure, but she certainly didn't do it for fun. With Seth, she was having a blast. Their poor cooking instructor was almost painfully oblivious. Seth and Elle had been childishly making faces and inappropriate gestures behind his back for an hour. They relentlessly made fun of each other for their poor culinary skills. Jim had stopped them twice to scold them for throwing food at each other, which just made it that much better. Seth kept Elle off of her feet as much as possible, pushing her around on a stool. Now that their meal was done, the moment of truth had arrived.

"Time to taste," the instructor beamed, clapping his hands together. Elle wasn't sure what he was so excited about. Even with his explicit instructions, there was no way the shrimp and chorizo paella they prepared was good. They hadn't even attempted to take it seriously. Maybe he wanted them to taste it _because_ it was so bad.

"Ladies first," Seth gestured to the pan.

"Oh no," she shook her head, picking up a fork. She scooped up some of their concoction and held it up for him, "You first."

He scrunched his face and leaned away but a little flutter of the eyelashes and a pout and he sighed, opening his mouth and squeezing his eyes shut.

She broke into a fit of giggles at the face he made upon tasting their creation.

"Oh my God, it's terrible," he snatched up a napkin, spitting it out. She grabbed a bottle of water, twisting off the cap and he gratefully downed a quarter of it, swishing it around in his mouth before he swallowed.

"Are you okay?" she laughed, reaching up to touch his cheek.

"That's officially the worst thing I've ever tasted," he shook his head. "I think we made garbage."

"This is not a good sign for our future," she quipped, dodging when he tried to offer her a forkful.

"This just means we'll be doing a lot of ordering out," he shrugged. "I'm okay with that. I have UberEats at the ready."

"And I have postmates _and_ doordash on the phone that I smuggled into the house," she grinned. "We've got all the bases covered."

"See? We're perfect," he smirked, looping his arm around her and gently pulling her in close. She looked up into his deep brown eyes and wondered if every girl in the house had this same feeling when they looked at him. It was somewhere in between new crush butterflies and wanting to straight up jump his bones. "Now aren't you glad you decided to play to win today."

"Ask me at the end of the night," she teased. "I'm still in pain and we made inedible food. You owe me a sloppy cheeseburger date."

"I can make that happen."

"I bet you can," she smiled, turning her gaze to the cooking instructor before she fell into a trance looking at his handsome face. "What do we do now?"

"Never fear," the friendly and patient chef smiled. "You have an absolutely delicious dinner waiting for you outside."

"You mean you made us do all of that for nothing?" Seth asked.

"Excuse him," Elle slapped her date on the arm. "Thank you so much for putting up with us."

"Of course, it's been my pleasure," he shook hands with both of them. When the cameras were cut, he was polite but got away from them as quickly as possible.

"Let's get some makeup to cover that bruise," Jim instructed an assistant as he came toward them. "It looks like he tried to choke her or something."

"Isn't it going to look weird that I've had a bruise this whole time and then when we have dinner, I don't?" Elle frowned as a makeup artist came over with a Beauty Blender and foundation. She would have covered it herself but she wasn't lying about how long it took to get that Gatorade smell out of her thick hair. Daisy practically had to drag her out of the shower to get her there on time. Then they had an argument because Elle wanted to wear flats because of her sore knee and Daisy and Amy were freaking out about her having to wear heels. The producers won but Elle was strongly considering pulling a Harper and taking her shoes off.

"It'll be less weird than that bruise," was Jim's response. "Seth, you can take off the apron."

"Thank God," Seth happily started untying the strings.

"Aw, I kind of liked it," Elle said as the makeup artist tipped her chin up and started dabbing at her sore collar.

"The apron stays," he announced.

"Apron off," Jim ordered and Seth's jaw clenched momentarily but he obliged, tossing it Jim's way.

"I like that you take your clothes off on command like that," Elle observed. "That's good to know."

"It all depends on who's commanding it," he winked.

Elle hoped the makeup artist didn't feel her pulse speed up as she continued gently covering her bruise. Once she was done, Daisy escorted Elle outside while Seth stayed with Jim. Dating on a reality show had to be one of the strangest experiences of Elle's adult life. The constant stopping and starting should have made for a horrible experience but Seth made all of the weirdness tolerable. When they reached the site of their dinner, Elle was taken aback. It was just starting to get dark out and their table sat between two trees. Small lanterns with white candles surrounded the table and hung from the trees. Small white lights were wrapped around the trees as well to illuminate the area and there was a beautiful array of pastel flowers. White pillar candles of varying heights were nestled amongst flowers at the center of the table and as she got closer, she saw insanely expensive looking white china, polished flatware, champagne flutes, and crystal water glasses.

"Wow," Elle marveled, struggling to remind herself that setups like this on reality shows were designed almost entire to emotionally manipulate the participants. Daisy once told her that they would ask prospective contestants about their dream dates specifically to get an emotional response by giving their dream dates to other people. Elle didn't really have a dream date but this was absolutely beautiful.

"Gorgeous, right?" Daisy smiled proudly. "Our set decorator used to do celebrity weddings. She's the best in the business."

"She deserves whatever you're paying her," Elle breathed in the refreshing floral scent.

"So when Seth comes out, we'll start filming once the two of you sit," Daisy explained, adjusting Elle's microphone. "Just be natural. We got fantastic footage of the two of you in the kitchen. You're doing great."

"I've never had a third party grade me in the middle of a date before. Would you actually tell me if I was doing bad?"

"Of course I would," Daisy answered quickly. "I want you to win, remember?"

"How does that even work?" Elle asked, curiously. "Do you just pull a girl aside and say 'hey, you're terrible'."

"It's more specific than that," Daisy explained, her tone almost clinical. "We tell the girl what exactly they're doing wrong and what can be done to fix it. If it can't be salvaged, then sometimes we'll just say that to see if they crack."

"Wow, that is…awful. That sounds horrifying," Elle cringed.

"It's not a fun part of the job," the producer admitted and Elle was relieved to see a glimpse of Human Daisy slipping through all of the Work Daisy. "Anyway, just keep things light but if he wants to get serious, go there with him. The fans want to know more about you so this is a great opportunity to give them that."

Elle nodded, half listening. She didn't need to be instructed on how to have a conversation but she understood that her friend had a job to do and an entertaining show to make. She perked up when she saw Seth coming. Daisy wished her luck and fluffed her hair a bit before backing off.

"Wow," Seth had the same response as Elle to the setting for their meal.

"Oh, is this not what you picked?" Elle smirked.

"Actually, I came out here while we were waiting for you; set this whole thing up myself," he joked, walking over and giving her a quick kiss on the cheek. His beard tickled her skin. She was glad that all that time in the kitchen hadn't diminished his clean, soapy scent. He pulled out her chair and Elle found herself trying to remember the last time Ethan had done that for her.

Ethan. She hadn't even thought about him all day. She knew she was strictly forbidden from DM'ing him again and she was surprisingly okay with it. She could work out whatever she needed to with him once she got back home. Whenever that would be.

Their dinner was delicious and Seth let her hoard the champagne while he stuck to water and a small pour of red wine. They talked about their careers and he asked a lot of questions about her family. She could go on about them forever. She adored her sisters, especially her little sister Lydia. She missed her like crazy. She could see Lydia wanting her to date someone like Seth; someone who could talk football with her, liked to crack jokes, and didn't mind getting his hands a little dirty. Lydia couldn't stand Ethan and she didn't bother to hide it. The only common ground they had was Elle and neither of them enjoyed the thought of being around the other very much. They were cordial but that was the best it got.

When their food was cleared away, Seth suggested they take a walk and Elle agreed. It must have been cleared ahead of time because the producers didn't pitch a fit about it. There was a cute little path that led to a bridge that Daisy told her was an old train bridge that had been converted for pedestrians decades earlier.

"You sure you're okay walking?" Seth asked, glancing down at her knee.

"I'll be fine," she insisted, grateful for his concern. "Thank you."

"Let me know if it's too much and we'll turn around," he instructed and she nodded in agreement. They walked in comfortable silence at first. Elle was momentarily surprised that he didn't hold her hand. She looked over at him and found him watching her out of the corner of his eye. When she caught him, he looked straight ahead but she noted a little smile.

"So I had to ask everyone on the date last week a question and I want to know your answer."

Elle giggled at Seth's use of 'had to', imagining Jim's annoyed expression. She assumed he was going to ask who she thought should go home next.

"What's your perfect man like?" he asked, surprising her. She was all ready to say that Mia or Emily should go home and then move right on to another topic.

He laughed at her surprised expression, "If it's me, you can just say me."

She rolled her eyes, playfully shoving at him, "You are ridiculous."

"It was just a guess," he shrugged, putting his hands in his pockets. "Seriously, what qualities do you want in a partner?"

She took a deep breath as she thought about her answer, stopping as if she couldn't think and walk at the same time. She turned to lean her elbows on the wood and he did the same beside her, "Well…it's cliché but a sense of humor is probably number one. The idea of not being able to laugh with someone is incredibly depressing to me. Growing up, I would just hear and see my parents cracking up together all the time and I remember thinking that I need to find someone I could laugh with like that. And intelligence is important, of course."

He listened intently as she spoke, his eyes fixed on her. She continued, "And I need someone who gets me. My acting career is so important to me and I have so much passion for it. It's not easy and I know that right now I'm just another actress waiting tables until a 'big break' but I bust my ass and I keep grinding and sacrifice whatever I have to because I _know_ that it's worth it. I'm not always available and sometimes I have to stop everything at the drop of a dime and rush off to an audition. And if I got a job out of state or out of the country, I would go and I would need someone who understands that. I want someone who feels that strongly about something."

She'd never actually said that out loud before. She supposed it was probably because no one had ever asked her about her ideal partner before. She felt a little sheepish but her response was honest. It also couldn't have been farther from a description of Ethan.

"And the face of a young Paul Newman wouldn't hurt," she finished with a shrug, hoping the joke would make her sound less intense.

He smiled, "You've gotta get an updated hot guy reference."

"Why? Do you know what young Paul Newman looked like?" she asked. "Hell, even into like his late 40s, he could get it."

Seth laughed and Elle inched closer to him until her sore elbow was right next to his. "So I answered your question. Now I'm posing the same question to you. Ideal partner. Go."

"It's pretty similar, honestly," he met her gaze again. "I know exactly what you mean about someone with a passion. I want to be able to cheer someone on and have them do the same for me. You know, support each other, make each other better. My career is everything to me and there are _definitely_ gonna be times when I can't be around. I just need someone who gets that and understands that it's not about me not wanting to be with them. It's just that I _can't_ be. And…"

He trailed off with a wry smile, looking off into the distance and she shook her head, "Oh no. Whatever it is, you have to say it."

"It's probably good for me to have someone who can keep me in line. Most women I've dated have just done everything my way until one of us gets sick of it. I want someone who cares enough to push back and call me on my shit when I need it."

Elle laughed, "You say that now."

"No, I mean it," he laughed. "I mean, I've enjoyed getting my way a lot. Don't get me wrong. But I want something different."

Elle took a deep breath and smiled at Seth, resting her chin on her hand, "We both sound like a lot of work."

"We probably are," he agreed, turning to lean his back against the wooden railing. "I think we're worth it, though."

He gave her a sweet, boyish smile that made her breath catch in her throat. It was unfair for him to be so handsome.

"So, I have to ask," he pushed away from the railing, taking her hand and turning her body toward his. Once again, his hand rested at the small of her back as if it belonged there, "Was getting knocked around on the football field today worth it?"

She smirked, "I didn't love getting doused in Gatorade but…I guess it was worth it."

His other hand found the side of her neck. His thumb moved along her jaw with a feather light touch. When Seth's lips touched hers, all cameras, producers, and boyfriends were forgotten. His lips were soft and insistent and absolutely perfect. She gripped the front of his shirt and his hand moved up into her hair as he tilted her head further back, deepening their kiss.

Elle was lost in Seth until one of the cameramen moved and created a loud noise, causing both of them to jump. Seth held her close and the anger that flashed across his face made her giggle. She didn't appreciate the interruption either. She reached up, wiping her thumb over his lip, trying to rid him of her pink tinted lip balm.

He smiled, kissing the tip of her finger.

"We should get you two back to the house," Jim came over, standing awkwardly close to them until Seth released his hold on Elle, looking disappointed.

Elle glared at the producer, crossing her arms. He could really ruin a moment.

"You're going to take separate cars back so that we can do your post-date interviews."

"Can't we just ride back to together and do the interviews back at the house?" Seth questioned.

"No. It'll save a significant amount of time and labor if we do them heading back," Jim explained. "Daisy will go with Elle. Seth, you're with me. Once we get back to the house, we'll just get a quick shot of you telling the girls when the next elimination will be. Then we'll get you back to your hotel."

"So that's it? The date's over?" Seth questioned.

"That's it," Jim clapped his hand onto Seth's shoulder, guiding him away. "Say goodnight, lovebirds."

Elle felt her shoulders sag as she offered Seth a disappointed wave, "See you later, I guess."

Seth sighed, putting his hands in his pockets, "I'll see you later. Don't get into any trouble."

"No promises," Elle offered in response.

As she watched Seth walk away with Jim, Elle was hit with a sudden, unwelcome realization. Jim said that Seth would be announcing the next elimination. Telling Seth that she was all in meant that for the first time since she arrived at the house, Elle was actually concerned about whether or not she would be going home.

* * *

Almost 2 hours later, Seth pulled his rental car into the circular drive at the front of the house. He'd informed the production assistant posted at the gate that he forgot his phone inside; a blatant lie that the kid didn't even bother to question.

He'd gone back to the hotel after filming ended but he felt stir crazy in his room. The hotel gym was closed for maintenance. He couldn't find anything even remotely interesting on TV. Try as he might, he could not stop thinking about that kiss with Elle. The feel of her perfectly pillow soft lips and her hand pulling him closer played over and over in his head. He'd been thinking about kissing her from the day that he met her but the real thing far surpassed any fantasy. Then Jim showed up and ruined it all, reminding Seth of the incredible weirdness he'd gotten himself into. He didn't have to ask to know that Elle felt the same. When Seth realized that he wasn't going to get any less restless, he came up with an idea. Now here he was, sitting in front of a mansion full of women who were vying for his affections.

Daisy walked toward the car with her headset on and a dubious look on her face.

"Hey Daisy," he grinned at her, rolling his window down.

"Seth," she crossed her arms. "Parker radioed to say you thought you left your phone here."

"That is what I told him, yeah," Seth nodded, scratching his beard.

"Your phone is in your cup holder," Daisy pointed. "What are you doing here?"

"I was hoping you could do me a favor."

* * *

Elle wrapped the cord around her mic pack and slipped the small bundle under her pillow. She had no idea what was going on or why Daisy was making her come to some clandestine meeting outside but she was going along with it because she didn't really have anything better to do. She'd been in the middle of her nighttime skincare routine when Daisy barged into the glam room and told her she needed to talk to her in private. They went into the bathroom and then Daisy instructed her to ditch her microphone and sneak out by the pool doors. She was adamant that Elle needed to make sure no one saw her but she wouldn't explain why.

Once her mic was safely stowed away, she crept down the stairs. Most of the girls were either in the glam room or the TV room so it wasn't incredibly difficult to get out. Jules was trying to force everyone in the TV room to play a board game so they would be occupied at least temporarily. Elle hoped whatever Daisy wanted wouldn't take long because her body still hurt after football and she just wanted to veg out for the rest of the night. She'd been dodging questions about her date with Seth from the second she got home and she'd barely had a moment's peace. She gave them all the same answer: They had a lovely dinner and a great talk. She didn't tell anyone, not even Harper, about that mind blowing kiss. She wanted to. She wanted to tell her new friends all about how charming and funny Seth was on their date and what a fantastic kisser he was but when she started to she realized that, deep down, they wouldn't want to know. She liked Harper and Jules and hoped to be friends with them long after they left the house but the reality of the situation was that they were in competition for the same guy. She didn't want to hurt her friends by telling them what happened. So she would keep it to herself and try her best not to play it over and over in her head and get herself all worked up.

She rounded the pool as Daisy instructed and approached the circle drive, confused when she saw Daisy standing beside a black SUV, speaking in hushed tones with the driver. If the producer wasn't her friend, Elle might have feared that she was getting kidnapped.

"Okay, can you tell me what's going on now?" Elle spoke as she approached. "Jules is trying to make everyone play Monopoly so I need to get back inside and figure out a way to keep them all from killing each other."

"Don't look at me," she put her hands up. "I'm not the one who dragged you out here."

Elle grew suspicious as she got closer to the car until she saw the driver.

Seth.

She rapidly went through a range of emotions. Excitement at the sight of him and his handsome face. Confusion about why he was there. Embarrassment because she looked like a true hot mess. She stood there in sweatpants and Jules' white crop top that had tacos over her boobs. Her hair was in a terrible, leaning topknot and she wasn't wearing an ounce of makeup, not even lip balm.

"What are you doing here?" she asked. She turned to Daisy, "You couldn't have told me about this before I came outside?"

"I wanted it to be a surprise," he flashed his famous cocky smirk, amused by how obviously flustered she appeared.

"If you're gonna try to make us do a challenge right now, you need to know that half of the girls in that house have been drinking since we got home after football," Elle warned him. Apparently while she was out with Seth, Zack and Mojo had come to the house to hang out with the contestants for a while and Mojo had them all doing shots.

"There's no challenge," Seth laughed.

"Then what are you doing here?" she tilted her head.

He reached over, opening the passenger door, "Get in and I'll tell you."

She should have declined and opted to go back inside, rest her weary body, and play a little hard to get but he when she looked at his smile, she found it incredibly difficult to say no. She decided to throw caution to the wind and got in, closing the door behind her and resting her bandaged elbow on the center console, "I didn't think I was going to see you until tomorrow."

"Slight change of plans," he began. "I was back at the hotel and I got hungry. You told me you wanted a sloppy cheeseburger date and that sounded like a good idea to me."

"Right now?" she stared.

"Unless you want to go back inside and be the Monopoly ref," he suggested.

"I will definitely take the date," she insisted.

"I thought you might."

"Did anyone see you leave?" Daisy asked.

"No, you told me to sneak out so I snuck out," Elle answered. "Tricking Jim is my favorite form of entertainment at this point."

"Good," Daisy said. "Then you two are free to go. Just don't be gone too long. There's only so much I can do to cover."

"Wait, free to go?" Elle raised her eyebrows. "No mics, no cameras?"

"No mics, no cameras," Seth smiled at her excitement.

She squealed, hurrying to put her seat belt on. The prospect of another date with Seth was great but the idea of privacy after weeks in front of the camera was even better.

"Wait a minute," Daisy sighed. "You're gonna have to hide her."

"Say what now?" Elle questioned.

"At the gate. If someone finds out I let you two leave without a crew, my bosses will have my ass. Just...cover her up."

"With what?" Seth laughed, looking around the car.

Elle looked around for an idea but they were in a rental car, there wasn't anything sitting around that they could use.

"You wearing anything under that hoodie?" she tugged at the sleeve of the black sweatshirt.

"Yeah, why?" he frowned, confused.

"Take it off," she held out her hand.

"I wasn't planning on it being that kind of date but if you insist," he joked, pulling the shirt off over his head. The t-shirt underneath rode up with it, giving her a mouthwatering glimpse of his abs.

He totally did that on purpose.

"Alright, just make sure no one sees you," Daisy laughed, shaking her head. "Seth, text me when you're coming back so I can sneak her back in. Don't do anything stupid."

"You have my word," he assured her as Elle pulled his hoodie over her own head. It smelled incredible and swallowed her up and she told herself to resist the urge to steal it.

Daisy headed back toward the house and Seth looked over at Elle, "What's your plan here, Lil' E? Or did you just want to borrow my shirt?"

"I'm gonna hide on the floor," she explained. "And _you_ are going to try not to act suspicious."

"You're not the only decent actor in this car," he grinned.

"That's up for debate, Rollins," she smirked, twisting around in her seat. She needed to crawl into the back, it would be harder for whoever was at the gate to see her on the floor back there. In her head, she was going for something that looked slinky and hot but in reality, she stupidly put her bad knee on the center console when she went to crawl back and then jumped at the pain and fell head first.

"You okay back there?" he winced, looking over his shoulder at her.

"I'm good," she chuckled at her lack of grace. "Let's go."

* * *

Seth waited at the window when their number was called. They found a burger place about 20 minutes away that had great Yelp reviews and was open late. The place was small they didn't have seating inside but they had a few picnic tables outside. Once their baskets were ready, he grabbed them and left a tip before heading back to the table.

"Cheeseburger and truffle fries for the lady," he placed her food down in front of her.

"This smells incredible," she gushed as he took a seat beside her. "This is the best idea I've ever had."

" _You_?" he laughed. "I'm the one who came and snuck you out of that house. Remember?"

"Because _I_ said I wanted a cheeseburger. My idea," she reminded him, picking up one of his sweet potato fries. "Besides, we both know you would never independently decide to pig out like this."

"You don't know that," he snagged one of her fries in return. "I eat burgers sometimes."

"How often?" she raised an eyebrow.

"That doesn't matter," he laughed. "And don't act like you don't watch what you eat."

"I have more cheat days than I probably should but I do okay," she shrugged. "I don't spend every waking moment in a crossfit gym like some people. You do know that there are other things you can post on Instagram, right?"

"You been creeping on my Instagram?" he eyed her.

"Oh shut up," she rolled her eyes, taking a bite of her burger. He couldn't explain why but he loved when she tried to play cool. She didn't fawn all over him but it was also impossible for her to hide that she liked him. She tried but he could see right through it and he liked having that kind of power. The problem was, she had pull over him too. He should have sent her home when he found out about her boyfriend but he'd barely even considered it. He didn't think she would look at him the way she did if she cared all that much about her boyfriend. The truth was, he wasn't looking for a long term relationship. He didn't need Elle to be some pious virgin. He hadn't even wanted to do the show, he _had_ to. But if he had to be there, he wanted her there with him. She was beautiful and funny and he couldn't get her smile out of his head. He had no idea where any of this was going but when she told him she was in, he knew that he wanted to find out.

"So is this one of the five weaknesses?" he asked, pointing at her half eaten burger.

"No," she shook her head. "This is amazing but I could live without it. And I believe I already told you that _no one_ knows all five. I'm not going to tell you."

"You will eventually," he spoke with confidence, wiping his hands on a napkin. The burgers were even better than they looked but they were messy as hell. "So...now that we're microphone free, I'm curious; how exactly does your boyfriend feel about you being here?"

"Ethan?" she sighed. "Honestly, I'm pretty sure he doesn't give a shit."

Seth frowned, "He must be crazy. If you were my girlfriend, I would not want you around a handsome devil like myself."

"You don't really know that, though, do you?" she challenged him. "You barely know me. You know this weird, reality show version of me. Maybe I'm a wretched cunt and you wouldn't care either."

He laughed, "Well now I know you use the word 'cunt'. You and Renee would get along well."

"I get that vibe whenever we watch the network," Elle agreed. "I like her."

He smiled, telling her about the texts Renee was sending him the first day they met at the arena.

"So he knows that you're here and he's just...cool with it?" Seth questioned. "What exactly is it that you like about this guy?"

"Why are you asking questions about Ethan?" she asked. She didn't seem upset, just curious.

"I've gotta study up on my competition," he answered.

She turned in her seat to face him, "Well..you've seen his picture."

"He is a good lookin' dude," Seth admitted. The guy was obviously a model. His face was a little too perfect, though. He didn't look like he could take a punch. "But so am I so I'm not worried about that."

She looked up at the sky, resting her chin on her hand, seemingly searching for another one of his good qualities.

"You realize this is a problem for your relationship, right?"

"I'm trying," she laughed, blushing. "I don't know. There used to be things but there's just.. _not_ anymore. That's going to be a shitty conversation to have when I get home."

"Why?" he asked. "It sounds like it shouldn't come as much of a surprise."

"I don't really think it will," she admitted. "But he lives with me so...that part won't be great."

"Alright, I have an easier question then," he scooted closer to her on the bench. "What do you like about me?"

"Really Rollins? You're just gonna fish for compliments now?" she asked. "Shameless."

"So?" he shrugged. "I want to know."

"Fine," she laughed, meeting his eyes. "You're funny and cocky and smart. I find it really easy to talk to you. And you're hot. So, so hot."

"That all checks out," he nodded, ego surging at the compliments.

She picked up her drink, narrowing her eyes at him as she took a sip and bit down on her straw, "You also scare the hell out of me."

"Why?" he asked.

"Because I wasn't expecting this," she admitted. "I didn't expect to like you and I do not like being unprepared for things. You should see me getting ready for an audition."

He nodded. He understood her more than he was really willing to share at that moment.

"I'm also scared because this whole thing is a bunch of strange nonsense and games and competition designed specifically to make me and the rest of those women, half of whom I actually like, look stupid."

"Hey, I'm the one who looks like I need a reality show to find a date," he reminded her.

"You look like the desirable celebrity with women clawing at each other to get to you," she corrected. "As women, we look like a bunch of damaged girls who have to do a TV show to get a date. That kind of freaks me out."

"I can understand that," he said, reaching out and taking her hand, linking their fingers together. "I also think maybe you're feeling a little weird because you've never had to compete for a guy before."

"Why would you assume that?" she looked up at him through her thick lashes.

"Now who's fishing for compliments?" he smirked.

"Whatever, at least I gave you compliments," she teased. Her eyes grazed over their hands before returning to meet his gaze, "Listen, I do like you but I don't know if I want to be some fling on a half-real reality show. I'm not saying I want anything serious, don't get me wrong I just...I'm not sure how to do this thing."

"You don't have to question it right now," he said. "It's just us here. No cameras. No show."

"I know," she smiled. "I like this part."

She briefly grabbed her bottom lip with her teeth and he knew that he needed to kiss her again soon. He'd been thinking about it from the moment their lips parted earlier.

He pulled her closer, closing the space between them and capturing her lips. She took a surprised breath at first but quickly melted into the kiss, parting her lips for his tongue. His pulse quickened as she pressed herself closer, her hand on his chest.

He feared he was officially done for. Kissing Elle was even better the second time. He lost all track of the world around them. Her fingers clutched at the front of his shirt and his grazed the hair at the nape of her neck.

His phone started buzzing on the table and he reached over to press ignore on whatever it was. It could wait.

A faint moan escaped her and Seth groaned in return, considering pulling her into his lap before he remembered that they were in a public place. His phone buzzed again and Elle pulled away slowly, a cheshire grin on her pink lips, "Someone's popular."

He picked up the phone, ready to toss it over his shoulder but it started buzzing for a third time.

"What do you want?" he glared at it, frowning further when he saw Daisy's name.

"Yeah?" he answered, immensely frustrated.

"You two need to get back here. Now."


	14. The First Battle

"I need a Makers and ginger, and three specials," Daisy instructed the bartender, digging some cash out of her pocket.

"Anything for you," he smiled at her and she rolled her eyes. She and the rest of the producers came to this bar after each elimination ceremony to celebrate the end of another successful episode. The place was a total dive well off of the beaten path. It held very little appeal except for super cheap drinks and surprisingly decent hot wings. It also didn't hurt that Jim seemed to detest the place.

"He's cute, you know?"

Daisy laughed when Amy appeared next to her, leaning her elbows on the bar.

"He is," Daisy agreed. "Very. He's also an out of work actor. No thank you."

Daisy wasn't about to go anywhere near a guy without an actual career. She didn't have that kind of patience.

"Can you grab us two shots of chilled Patron, hon?" Amy added to their order, flashing the other bartender a flirtatious smile.

"What are the shots for?" Daisy asked as they were quickly placed in front of them.

"To you," Amy grinned, holding up one of the glasses. "Your girl went from being called last to called first tonight. That deserves to be celebrated."

Daisy couldn't hide the proud smile as she lifted the other shot. She thought that Seth would call Elle's name first but she was still excited when it happened. She'd never felt so good about her chances before.

The women downed their shots and Amy stacked their glasses, neatly, "Genius move sneaking Elle out of the house last night."

Daisy felt her eyes bug out and she stared at her friend, barely noticing the rest of her order being placed on the bar. She thought she managed to pull it off undetected. She called Seth and demanded that they come back when a few of the girls started to head to bed. Elle was usually one of the last to go to sleep so it was going to become more and more noticeable that she wasn't around. She'd bribed one of the techs to keep him from reporting that Elle's mic was off but she didn't want Harper or Jules to find the pack under Elle's pillow before she got back. Fortunately, Seth brought her back quickly and Daisy snuck her in through the pool area, claiming she'd been outside reading, just beyond the camera line. She even brought a book she knew Elle had read and one of those little clip on lights to make it believable.

When Jim tried to question her, Elle blew him off as she normally would and declared that she was going to bed, heading straight to her room before he could ask any questions. It was business as usual.

"Don't freak out," Amy laughed at Daisy's panicked expression. "I have no intention of ratting you out. I'm just going to sit by in silent jealousy and hope that Seth doesn't send my only remaining girl home for being more excited for the guest stars than she is for him."

Amy had taken a blow at elimination losing 2 of her girls, Brittany and Kayla. Jules was her only remaining hope. Normally, Amy always had people around to the end but she was having an off year.

"Have you talked to her about that?" Daisy asked. "Because she's really got to reign it in."

"I haven't really," Amy admitted. "At first, I thought he might find her fangirling endearing but I'm realizing now that I should've coached her sooner. Oh well, can't win 'em all."

"You're really not going to say anything about last night?" Daisy asked. She trusted Amy. They were friends outside of work but she still had to ask.

"Cross my heart," Amy swore, picking up one of the bar's bright blue 'special' drinks and taking a sip. "I'm even going to offer you a little advice."

Daisy waited patiently. Amy had been in the business a lot longer and had even worked on shows like The Bachelor. Her advice was already appreciated.

"Jim is about to make a big push with Mia," Amy scooted closer, speaking as quietly as she could in the loud bar. "He's gonna try to give that tin man a heart. Have her make some romantic plea to Seth about how she's here for him and really push to build a relationship."

Daisy wasn't really surprised. Mia was obviously the girl that Jim was hanging his hopes on. She made fantastic TV.

"My point is that we need to see more emotion from Elle," Amy explained. "I appreciate that Elle is sort of above it all, I really do. But if she can show a little vulnerability, the fans will fall head over heels in love with her and if you increase her fanbase, you increase her favor with the higher ups and Seth won't be able to send her home even if he wants to."

She knew that Amy was absolutely right. The audience was already loving the chemistry between Seth and Elle but a little emotion could go a long way. Daisy just had to figure out a way to get it out of her.

* * *

Seth had to have some of the worst luck in the world when it came to flights being on time. It seemed that whenever he was going _home_ , no matter where he departed from, his flight got delayed. There had to be some kind of conspiracy against him. He'd rushed to the airport after the elimination ceremony, barely stopping to say goodbye to anyone and now here he was, sitting at a mostly empty gate, 30 minutes past when he was supposed to board. He would have preferred to just stay at the house, maybe try to sneak Elle out again. He hadn't gotten a chance to talk to her very much outside of giving her a necklace. They had a shorter cocktail party than usual and Mia and Emily kept him occupied almost the entire time. He called her first, hoping to make up for calling her last the week before. Things had definitely turned around after he gave her that ultimatum. He never needed any convincing that she was there for him but now she didn't either. He had no idea where any of this was going. He was still technically supposed to be courting an entire group of other women and she was contractually prohibited from officially breaking up with her boyfriend. They weren't exactly in a fairytale situation. He understood her reservations about the show and he wasn't sure he was in the market for a serious relationship anytime soon but he knew that he liked her. He was having fun and he wanted to get to know her more. If they had to do that within the confines of a reality show for a few more weeks, he could deal with that.

He stretched out his legs on the seats beside him, figuring it was time to get comfortable. He was going to be there at least another half hour.

His phone started to vibrate in his pocket and he wondered if whoever it was could sense his airport misery. He smiled when he saw the incoming FaceTime from Sasha.

"Tell me everything," she said as soon as he answered.

"Don't you have anything better to do?" he laughed. It was their off day. She was more than likely at home until Friday.

"If I did, would I be calling you?" she challenged. "Come on, I want to know how the challenge went. What was the date?"

"Which one?" he smirked.

"What do you mean which one?" her eyebrows shot up to her hairline.

He'd spoken without thinking. Seth didn't particularly feel like sharing about the alone time he got to spend with Elle. The _actual_ alone time, not the date where they were surrounded by cameras and producers. That greasy burger stand was just for the two of them.

"Nothing," he shook his head. "The date was good."

"Okay, I don't know why you're being vague right now but I don't appreciate it," She glared at him.

"I'm being vague because I'm not supposed to spoil the show," Seth laughed. "It's a part of the deal."

"Oh like you haven't spoiled it before," she rolled her eyes. "Since when do you care about rules?"

"You have a point there," he agreed. He had the perfect thing to distract her. "I have a spoiler that I think you'll really like."

"Did you finally get rid of Mia?" she perked up. "That better be it because I'm all excited about it now."

"I found out when you get to be on the show," he explained.

Her jaw dropped and then she let out a strange squeal. Her magenta hair started flying around her face as she jumped up and down, "Finally! Tell me, tell me, tell me."

"Calm down, Sash," he laughed. "I don't know who the next guest is but you guys will be the week after them."

" _You guys_?" she stopped bouncing. "I don't get my own episode?"

He shook his head, "'Fraid I couldn't swing that. It's you, Bayley, Nia, and Alexa. Maybe Becky, depending on her schedule."

She rolled her eyes, "This feels like a 'too many cooks in the kitchen' scenario to me."

"Don't shoot the messenger," Seth shrugged. "You're on the show. That's what you wanted, right?"

"Am I the first one to find out?" she narrowed her eyes.

"Yes, Sasha," he laughed. It was such a strange thing to care about but he knew it would matter to her. She was the only person he knew more competitive than himself.

"At least I have that," she fought a smile. "So, what are we going to be doing?"

"You'll find out, don't you worry," he smiled. "And I promise you'll like it."

* * *

 _Tuesday_

"Why the hell did I have to befriend the most athletic girl in the house?" Elle breathed, leaning over and catching her breath. Jules had somehow convinced her to start getting up early to work out. That was how boring it was living in the hen house. "And how the hell did Harper get out of this?"

Elle complained but at least the working out would help to counteract the copious amounts of wine she was drinking. She'd always been in good shape but this house could definitely wreak havoc on her body if she let it.

"Harper still has a bum knee after that football game," Jules answered, cracking open a water bottle. "And _you_ need to learn to stop being such a cranky ass bitch in the morning."

Elle laughed, "This is not making me any less of a cranky ass bitch."

"It will, trust me," Jules assured her. "Eventually."

"There she is!"

Elle looked over her shoulder, rolling her eyes when she saw Emily stalking toward them with Abigail and Mia in tow. They had a cameraman rushing to keep up with them.

"Jesus take the wheel, what now?" Jules put down her water.

Elle crossed her arms, awaiting the blonde army's onslaught. She wasn't hiding any more phones so she didn't know what they were coming at her for this time.

"Are you kidding me?" Abigail stepped forward, standing in front of Jules.

Elle raised an eyebrow, confused.

"Can I help you?" Jules laughed.

"You can explain to me when you decided it was okay to be a thief?" Abigail responded, stepping even closer to Jules. Mia and Emily were close behind her like bodyguards.

Elle wondered if she'd gone to bed and woken up in the Bad Girls Club.

"What are you talking about?" Jules frowned.

"I've been looking for my watch for days," Abigail explained. "Emily told me to look in your room and there it was."

"I haven't borrowed anything from you since you decided to join the dark side," Jules pointed at Mia and Emily.

"Oh I know," Abigail's volume rose. "You didn't _borrow_ it. You _took_ it."

Elle frowned deeply at the exchange unfolding before her. This was so obviously forced. Abigail was playing for the cheap seats. It actually offended Elle's sensibilities as an actress. Jim's grimy mitts were all over this.

"Look, this is obviously a misunderstanding," Elle stepped in, gently tugging the back of Jules' shirt to get her a little space. "We're a group of women living together. Our shit gets mixed up all the time. You found your watch. End of story."

Abigail dramatically rolled her eyes, "You don't run the house, Elle. You can't just shut me down."

"I'm not saying I run anything," Elle clarified. "This just seems like an incredibly dumb thing to fight over. If you really want to go crazy, though, have at it, girl. You're only making yourself look worse."

"Look, I don't know what you want," Jules scoffed. "I don't know how that ended up in my room. Did you ask Kai? It's her room too."

"I don't need to ask Kai because I know it was you," Abigail sneered. "And what I want is an apology."

"Well you aren't gonna get one so maybe you should go find something else to do," Jules shrugged.

"Oh I'm going to get my apology," Abigail demanded. "Bitch."

Before Elle had time to react, the two women were engaged in a full blown shouting match. Abigail was pointing aggressively in Jules' face. Jules had a vein popping out of her neck that had never appeared before. When Abigail's finger grazed Jules' face, the New Yorker reared her fist back and Elle jumped in, grabbing her arm before she could take a real swing.

"Okay, that's enough," she gripped her friend's arm tightly, pulling hard and dragging her away from Abigail's barking. Abigail started throwing out more insults and Jules tried to get away but Elle held firm, "Stop! Turn around and walk away."

Jules struggled for another moment before allowing Elle to drag her off. Elle didn't stop pulling until they were safely up in her room.

Harper looked alarmed when she saw them, "What's going on? I heard everybody screamin'."

"Abigail went psycho and Mike Tyson here tried to fight her," Elle explained, pressing her back against the door. Jules looked toward the door when Abigail's muffled voice could be heard from the bottom of the stairs. "If you try to go out there, I swear I will put you in a cold shower."

The brunette paced, her fists clenching and flexing.

"What is wrong with you, Jules?" Elle questioned. "You can't hit someone."

"I didn't want to," Jules insisted. "I just...I don't do well with people getting in my face. I fought a lot growing up and I have worked _really_ hard on controlling my emotions. All kinds of therapy stuff. I haven't had anyone jump at me like that in a long time."

Jules hands were beginning to tremble and Elle felt awful for her. She reached out, taking her hand. Harper took the other.

"Just take a deep breath," Elle squeezed her hand. "We know you didn't take anything. They're just trying to get screen time. Don't give it to them."

They were still shouting and Elle had half a mind to go down there and tell them where they could shove their baseless accusations but that wouldn't help to keep Jules calm.

"We'll send Harper down there to fight them if they don't shut up," she tried for a joke instead.

Harper shrugged with a sweet smile, "I can handle 'em."

* * *

Daisy felt a sense of relief as she watched the house cameras from a production truck. She feared the contestants were going to come to blows. Drama was great but they didn't want any actual physical violence. That wasn't the type of show they were going for. Fortunately, Elle got Jules out of danger of any confrontation. Amy came into the truck, eyes full of fury, pushing her headphones down around her neck, "God damn it."

Daisy turned her eye back to the monitors, brow furrowing when she saw the gym area. Abigail, Emily, and Mia were high fiving each other and laughing.

"What the hell is that about?" Daisy questioned.

" _Jim_ ," Amy fumed. "Jules spent some time in juvenile detention as a teenager. Jim found out about it. He must have told Texas to get in her face and try to trigger her."

Daisy was simultaneously disgusted and impressed. Trying to trigger a physical altercation was a pretty low tactic but it had two potential outcomes that were great for Jim. Either he created a big ratings moment or he got another producer's girl kicked out.

Producing a reality show required walking a fine moral line. Truthfully, a history of anger management issues and juvenile detention probably should have disqualified a contestant. Most people would think it was a bad idea to put a potentially volatile person in a situation like this but for a producer, a hothead could mean a season full of ratings. They frequently overlooked or outright buried things to get their contestants cast. They all convinced themselves that everyone signed waivers so nothing that happened was really a producer's fault. They knew what they were getting into.

"He hasn't been this catty in a long time," Amy shook her head.

"He's obviously feeling threatened," Daisy explained. Abigail was still technically one of Daisy's contestants so it was a little annoying to find out that Jim was putting any ideas in her ear.

Jim was shameless. He would do anything he could to edge Daisy out and she needed to make sure that didn't happen.


	15. The Heat Index

Seth had to wonder what wrong he'd done in his life that made him deserving of sitting in LA traffic. The worst part of filming for the show was simply getting to the house. He was supposed to be there in 30 minutes and at this rate, there was no way he'd be on time. At least he was in the backseat and not driving. He wasn't exactly patient behind the wheel. Roman always wanted to drive whenever the three of them rode together because he was by far the calmest driver.

He had a text from Daisy assuring him they were taking precautions due to the heat. It was a record day and most of their activities took place outside.

He typed out a quick reply _Doesn't matter, I live in this car now_

His Instagram notifications came up, telling him he'd been tagged in a post by Renee.

She'd re-posted a fan made video of Seth and Elle with clips from the show set to Elton John's 'Can You Feel the Love Tonight?'. It was incredibly cheesy. He had to admit, though, Elle looked adorable. There was a particular bit with her tucking her hair behind her ear, dipping her head to hide her smile, cheeks flushed. He hadn't seen that clip before. Elle always tried so hard to seem unflappable that it was nice to see her in a moment of vulnerability. She rolled her eyes and made a silly face, shaking off whatever it was she was thinking.

 _Whoever did this is a hero #TeamElle #StillNoGoodCoupleName_

Renee was relentless. She'd been bugging him for a while about settling down and finding a girlfriend and now she was like a dog with a bone. Between her and Sasha's rabid pursuit of a spot on the show, he was a little nervous. They liked Elle on TV but what if they didn't like her in person? What if she didn't get along with them? Why was he worrying about it when everyone under the sun knew reality TV relationships weren't real?

"How did I get myself into this?" he asked, running his hand over his hair.

"What's that sir?" the driver glanced over his shoulder.

"Just a crazy person talking to himself," he smirked, shaking his head.

Stupid traffic.

* * *

"This stuff is just so perfect."

Elle laughed as Harper marveled, dusting Nars Orgasm blush onto her cheeks. She'd borrowed it from Elle a few days earlier and become completely obsessed with it.

"Okay Kentucky, use a light hand," Elle advised, slipping the blush brush away from the redhead. "You don't want to go full Baby Jane."

"Who's Baby Jane?" Jules frowned.

"You've never seen What Ever Happened To Baby Jane?" Elle stared. Both women looked confused and Elle sighed deeply, shaking her head, "Young people."

"I'm a year older than you," Jules reminded her.

"Chronologically," Elle stated. "If you don't know the insane genius that is Bette Davis in Baby Jane then we are much farther apart spiritually."

"I can't with you," Jules laughed, picking up the blush and trying some on herself. "This is pretty fabulous though."

Elle was relieved that they'd still managed to have a good morning after that blow-up. It helped that they waited until everyone else was done in the glam room before they started getting ready. It was challenge day which meant they got to see Seth. It was almost embarrassing by how much Elle was looking forward to it. She hadn't seen him since the last elimination ceremony and she couldn't stop thinking about their date. Not the one meticulously planned by the producers, though that one was nice. The real one was the one that was on her mind. Just the two of them, no cameras. And that kiss. That kiss set off fireworks in her brain.

"Ladies!"

Elle narrowed her eyes. She loved Daisy dearly but having someone coming into the room shouting was really getting old. The producer clapped her hands until she had their attention.

"Our guest for this week's challenge is downstairs but Seth is running late," Daisy explained. "I figured I could bring you down and introduce you since the poor guy is just sort of standing around with Corey."

"Who is it?" Jules questioned, opening a tube of lipgloss..

"You'll see," Daisy answered. "Are you all ready? I want to get you down there before the other girls."

Elle took one last look at herself in the mirror. She hated that they wouldn't tell them what the challenge was going to be. She never knew if she was dressed for the occasion. It was hotter than hell out so she kept it simple with a high necked white crop top and a pair of denim shorts. She spent forever and a day on her hair so, at the very least, she knew she looked great from the neck up.

"I'm about as ready as I'm gonna get," Harper shrugged, giving her fiery waves one last pass with the brush.

On the way out, Elle picked up a pair of red framed sunglasses in case the challenge involved them being out in the sun. She was hoping with all of her might that producers would show mercy and let them stay in the air conditioned house.

They filed down the stairs and when they reached the kitchen, Jules stopped short, causing Elle to run smack into her back. Harper stopped behind her, putting her hands on her shoulders.

"Holy shit," Jules marveled in a whisper. She'd stopped just outside the door and she was the only one who could see inside enough to have spotted their guest.

"What's going on?" Harper whispered.

"I have no idea because this one is frozen in time," Elle laughed. She pinched Jules on the arm and the New Yorker turned around, smoothing down her shirt, "How do I look?"

"The same as you looked when we were upstairs 30 seconds ago," Harper laughed.

Elle rolled her eyes, stepping around Jules to see what all the fuss was about. Once she stepped into the kitchen, she understood what had Jules starstruck.

The man in their kitchen wore an OGBC t-shirt hugging his muscles like a second skin and a pair of black jeans.

Elle was so busy marveling at how attractive he was in person that she momentarily forgot his name.

"Hi there," he smiled when he saw her, speaking in a dreamy, Irish accent.

"Hi," Elle said, taking the hand that he offered.

"Finn Balor," he grinned, shaking her hand. He seemed to realize that she was at a loss. He had to be used to people losing their words in front of him.

"Right," Elle finally snapped back to reality. "You're the one that Seth hurt."

As soon as the words slipped out of her mouth, her jaw dropped and Elle's cheeks heated up like a stovetop. To his credit, Finn burst into a fit of laughter.

"Oh my God. I am so sorry I said that," Elle covered her mouth.

"That's alright," he assured her. "You're not wrong."

"Jules has been assigning me matches to watch and I just saw that one. I swear I'm not that much of a jerk," Elle winced.

"I'm sure you aren't," Finn laughed. "It's Elle, right?"

"That would be me," she nodded. She glanced over her shoulder, wondering why the hell her friends hadn't come to save her. They were quietly talking to Daisy. For the moment, she was on her own. "Should I be scared that you already know my name?"

"Haven't any of the guys told you?" he laughed. "We all watch the show religiously. The locker room is _very_ invested."

"I would have thought you'd all have better things to do," she smirked, finally beginning to recover her senses. The idea of the entire WWE locker room watching her exploits was a little alarming but that was what she'd signed up for.

"You'd be surprised," he winked. "There are betting pools, Team t-shirts, the works."

"And whose team are you on?" she crossed her arms.

"I'm reserving judgment until after today," he laughed.

"I bet you're Team Harper," she guessed. "Everybody loves the nice one."

"Gallows and Anderson _love_ her," Finn chuckled. "They think she's too good for Seth."

"She's probably too good for anyone to be honest," Elle shrugged. She still couldn't understand how she'd grown so attached to her new friend but there was no use fighting it. Maybe Harper was helping her become a nicer person.

"So..what's it like being cooped up in this house?"

"Well," A hearty laugh escaped her. "It's kind of a mix between an 8th grade slumber party and the movie Saw."

* * *

Seth was indescribably grateful to finally get out of the car when he arrived at the mansion. He didn't have the patience for traffic in a regular city but LA traffic was actual hell. He was almost an hour past his call time and his knees were starting to hurt.

"I'm sorry Daisy," he apologized as he approached her. "Traffic was nuts. I got here as fast as I could."

"Don't worry about it. It's fine," Daisy gave him a sympathetic smile. "Finn's here and he's been keeping the girls entertained. Mostly Elle, actually."

Seth raised an eyebrow at that last bit.

Daisy casually waved him off, laughing, "Don't be weird. They just hit it off. That's all. Doesn't every guy want the girl he likes to get along with his friends?"

 _Friends_ was a bit of a stretch when describing Seth and Finn's relationship but he didn't feel the need to explain that to her.

"Yeah, I guess," Seth answered as she led him around the back to where they usually filmed.

"Everyone's still inside," Daisy explained, pointing toward the house. Seth could see into the kitchen and there was Elle, sitting on the counter, laughing with Finn. Her cheeks were flushed and she had a hand over her stomach as the two of them cracked up, probably at one of Finn's terrible jokes.

"When are we getting started?" Seth questioned, internally attributing his narrowing eyes to the brightness of the sun and not the sharp tick of annoyance he felt.

"We're just about ready. We're gonna keep you out here though," Daisy informed him. "It's always good to get the girls' reaction to you on camera."

"Great," Seth tore his eyes away from Elle and Finn and focused his gaze on Daisy. "What's the challenge anyway?"

"See those?" Daisy pointed to some of the crew members setting up stations with what looked like giant Lego blocks. " _Those_ are the challenge."

"Aren't the challenges supposed to revolve around _me_?" Seth inquired. "I haven't played with Legos in a decade."

"Yeah but it's a cute thing about Finn that the WWE wanted us to highlight," Daisy responded. "Maybe it's a test. Finn could be our guy next season. He may be the best looking guy I've ever seen in person."

"Thanks a lot," he frowned at her. What the hell was he- chopped liver?

"Don't be sensitive," she laughed. "I was mostly joking. Don't pretend you don't know you're good looking. Humility doesn't suit you."

Of course he knew but he wanted everyone else to know it too. He didn't need Finn and his cheesy smile and his Irish accent to come in and steal his shine.

One of the techs set about getting Seth's microphone ready and Corey came out of the house to join them. The sun was high and the slight breeze was disappearing just as they were ready to start filming. Of course.

Amy brought Finn outside and the Irishman grinned, waving at Corey and Seth, "Gentlemen. Are we finally ready to get this show on the road?"

"Hopefully before my face melts off," Corey quipped. "Daisy, can you figure out some way to turn down the Sun?"

"Of course, Corey, I'll get right on that," Daisy didn't even bother looking in their direction when she responded.

"You've got a great group of girls in there," Finn gestured his thumb toward the house. "Really fun."

"Yeah, I know," Seth forced a smile. It shouldn't have bothered him. It was a compliment.

Seth knew that it was weird that he wasn't a big fan of Finn. _Everyone_ liked him. Even Sasha and she hated most people. He'd was always been competitive but something about Finn kicked his competitive nature into its highest gear.

Daisy went up to the house and then led the contestants out into the yard, lining them up. As usual, Elle was the last outside. When their eyes met, her smile spread from ear to ear and then she made a silly face at him. He laughed and winked at her, amused at the eyeroll she offered in return. His irritation was momentarily forgotten. Seeing that smile was what did the trick.

* * *

Elle struggled to resist the urge to do a cartwheel when Corey finally finished explaining the challenge. It took four takes because he was sweating so badly the PA's had to keep stepping in to towel off his forehead. Even Seth flubbed once or twice. Finn was surprisingly unaffected. Clearly, he wasn't actually human. Everyone was fairly miserable by the time they got the words out. The challenge was for the girls to create a structure out of the giant Lego blocks. Whoever made the most creative one would win a dinner date at Porte Noire with Seth. That must have been part of the deal that Daisy made with Poppy for allowing her to stay on the show without losing her job. She could just imagine the socialite pretending she didn't want to be on camera while simultaneously stepping into every shot and behaving as if she actually spent any of her time in the restaurant. Whoever came in second would get an hour alone with Seth before the elimination ceremony. Mia looked supremely confident as usual. She never appeared to have any fear that she wouldn't do well. Abigail was staring at the blocks as if she could will them into putting themselves together so she wouldn't have to. Elle could do nothing but frown and hold her shirt away from her skin for a moment, praying for a breeze.

"Guys, we're all gonna die lugging these things around in this heat," Jules spoke up, loudly.

"What are you complaining about?" Emily sneered. "They're not even heavy."

"Oh no?" Jules challenged. "Pick one up. Go ahead, I'll wait."

"I'm conserving my energy," Emily crossed her arms, turning away from the New Yorker.

Jules nodded, "That's what I thought."

"Jules has a point," Mia surprisingly agreed. Elle stared at her as if she'd sprouted a second head. The blonde shrugged, "Once we start moving around, this heat may be a bit too much. Maybe we should change or turn on the sprinklers. Maybe both."

"Are you actively trying to set up a wet t-shirt contest?" Elle raised an eyebrow.

"No, that's not exactly what I'm saying," Mia answered. "I just meant that we weren't prepared for the challenge so those of us that would like to put on something cooler should be given a little time."

"I would love to change," Kai raised her hands. She was wearing a pair of dark denim jeans and a tank top. A few of the other girls expressed their agreement and Jim seemed put out but agreed to a break for them to get changed.

"If you aren't changing, stay away from the Legos," Jim looked toward those who'd opted to stay. He pointed directly at Elle, "No cheating."

"How dare you suggest such a thing," she pointed back at him. "What have I ever done to deserve so much aggression from you?"

Seth snickered until Jim shot a dirty look his way. "Hey man," he put his hands up. "I didn't do anything either."

Elle waited patiently until Jim was out of sight. He said she couldn't cheat with the Legos, he didn't say she couldn't take the opportunity to spend a little extra time with Seth.

"What's up troublemaker?" he asked, reaching out when she got close enough and pulling her against him in a loose hug. He left his hand resting on her hip and she leaned against him. It felt so natural to be with him this way, almost as if they were a normal couple. But then she looked over her shoulder at the stacks of Legos and all of the cameras and she remembered that they were anything but normal.

"Corey, are you gonna make it all day in this heat?" she asked. He was always impeccably put together. It was odd to see him sweating his brains out.

"I'm pretty sure that this is how I'm going to die," Corey frowned. "All for the sake of Seth finding love."

"There are worse causes," Finn joked and Elle couldn't help but laugh.

"Can I talk to you alone for a minute?" Seth asked quietly, dipping his head to speak in her ear.

"You can try," she smirked. "I got a very stern talking to this morning about turning my mic off."

Seth gave her a conspiratorial smile and reached back, turning off his own microphone before offering his arm. His smile was so charming she couldn't have said no if she wanted to. She looped her arm around his elbow, ready to follow him anywhere.

"I guess I'll just pretend I don't see you breaking the rules," Corey sighed.

"Thanks, Graves," Seth tossed over his shoulder as they walked around the side of the house. He shifted his arm to drape over her shoulders. Even in this heat, the skin on skin contact was more than welcome, "So...how has this week without me been?"

"Like every other week I've spent without you," she declared with practiced indifference. "I did stop a fight this morning."

"Who was fighting?" he asked, concerned.

"I'd rather not say," she answered, deciding against informing him of Jules' involvement. She didn't want it to work against her friend. "Just know that tensions are high."

"You've been fighting over me?" he flashed a cocky smirk.

"Nope," she shook her head. "In fact, I have done nothing but foster healthy, female relationships. I'm thriving."

"Oh yeah, you and Mia seem to be best friends," he teased.

"Mia is Satan's betrothed," she rolled her eyes. "She literally reminds the entire house every day that she was the first one to kiss you."

"And you're jealous?" he questioned, stopping and turning her to face him. His expression was as smug as could be.

"I'm _annoyed_ ," she corrected.

"I think it's more than that," he smirked, his thumb grazing her chin. His eyes were focused on her lips and she wrestled with her desire to kiss him and the equal need to assert herself. She felt like playing hard to get was probably the right move but she'd been thinking about kissing him for a solid week and now he was there, in the flesh, with his lips just inches from hers.

"Guys."

Elle's attention was so focused on Seth she barely heard Daisy's voice. Seth rolled his eyes and she turned her head, surprised at how close her friend had gotten without her noticing.

"Seriously, we take a break for a few minutes and you two sneak off?" Daisy questioned. "Why are your mics off?"

"Because we wanted to have a private conversation," he answered.

"Sure you did," Daisy smirked. "Mics back on, now. The rest of the girls are headed back downstairs."

She stared, waiting for them to follow her instructions. Reluctantly, they both complied and Daisy gestured for Seth to start walking first.

"What the hell, Daisy?" Elle whispered as they headed back toward production. "I thought you wanted me to get more time with Seth."

"I _do_ , when it's on camera," Daisy insisted. "Win this challenge and you get another date with Seth. _That's_ what we need, not clandestine little moments."

"Have I told you how much of a bummer Work Daisy can be?"

"She's not my favorite person either," Daisy smiled. "Now can we get back to work, please?"

Elle dutifully walked back to her pile of Legos. Frustrating as it was, she had to remember that Daisy had a job to do. A strange, sometimes invasive one that boggled Elle's mind but a job just the same. That was the only reason Elle had ever set foot in this nut house. Daisy had hooked her up with a job when she needed help. The least she could do was play by the rules.

Once the cameras were rolling and they were told to start, Elle found herself staring blankly at her supplies. She tried to start a foundation a few times but she could never seem to formulate a plan. She couldn't even remember the last time she'd picked up a Lego block. It probably involved her younger sister, Lydia, and her father steering clear to avoid stepping on them.

"You look like you could use some help," Finn approached her. Apparently her current void of creativity was evident in her expression.

"Full disclosure, I'm much better at this when I know what I'm supposed to be building," Elle laughed. "I follow directions well...When I want to, at least."

He stood beside her, crossing his arms, "Well, then all you have to do is come up with a picture in your head."

"Oh is that all?" she laughed. She crossed her own arms and critically eyed her pile of shapes.

He leaned closer, whispering, "I don't think squinting harder is gonna help."

She giggled, elbowing his arm, "Aren't you supposed to be helping?"

"Of course," he agreed. "Once you know what you want."

"Easier said than done," she made a face.

"Try this: close your eyes," Finn instructed. "Picture a place you'd like to be right now."

"Somewhere that isn't on this lawn, baking in the sun?" she smirked as she shut her eyes.

"Exactly," he chuckled beside her.

She tried hard to think but all she could come up with was water, maybe because she wanted to dive into the pool to cool off.

"I have an idea," she smiled excitedly, opening her eyes and turning to the grinning Irishman.

She finally felt a picture coming together in her head. When she looked up at the clock and looked around at everyone else she saw that she had to make up ground rather quickly. She turned a hopeful smile at Finn, "Grab those for me?"

* * *

Seth didn't realize that when he offered to help Mia, she would decide to barely lift a finger and instead direct him around like a construction foreman. He was basically competing for a date with himself. Fortunately for her, he found it hard to say no to beautiful women and Mia was absolutely gorgeous. She was no Miss Congeniality but that wasn't necessarily a deal breaker for Seth. No one had declared their intentions more clearly than her.

"I think we're almost done," she smiled excitedly, slipping an arm around him.

"It looks pretty good," he admired his handiwork.

"If only we could add a drawbridge," she joked.

"Your castle has a moat, now?" he smirked.

"The Ice Queen has to have a perfectly terrifying looking castle," she smirked. "It's kind of in the job description."

The internet had really taken the Ice Queen gimmick and run with it where Mia was concerned. There were memes of her head photo-shopped onto Elsa from Frozen and it was a trending hashtag every week. A select few seemed to mean it as a compliment but the majority of the audience hated her with a passion. She took it in stride though and he admired that about her.

"I'm sorry," he apologized. "Our fans can be pretty intense."

"Doesn't bother me," she shrugged, smiling up at him. "I thought Elsa was the pretty one. Besides, I came in prepared for that."

"I have a feeling you're prepared for everything," he smirked. She was clearly a crafty woman.

"You're right about that," she smiled. "I'm prepared to win this date tonight. Although, Finn seems to have already found his favorite."

He eyed her curiously and she stared at him with her sharp blue eyes, "You haven't noticed that he's been helping Elle this whole time?"

At the start of the challenge, Finn and Seth had started at opposite ends. They were supposed to help each girl for a few minutes before moving on. Seth had made it all the way to Mia who was in the middle but Finn was still with Elle who was the second person from his end. They were constructing a boat and seemed to be having a grand time doing it.

"Just remember, I'm not the only one who told you she wasn't here for the right reasons. Even Abigail said it and they were friends."

Seth didn't exactly trust Mia's opinion of Elle. They'd clearly rubbed each other the wrong way from the moment they met and as far as he was concerned, they were both at fault. Regardless, he didn't love watching pal around with Finn Balor, of all people.

The buzzer went off signaling that their time was up. Mia thanked Seth with a hug and he was quickly directed to stand with Corey and Finn.

The three men viewed each contestant together. Seth thought that Mia's castle was the best but he found it difficult to be objective. Elle's boat was the most creative. Jules' creation was the tallest though none of the men could really figure out what it was supposed to be. Harper gave the best explanation, comparing a home with a strong foundation to a relationship. It was sweet and thoughtful.

"Finn, your vote is the only one that matters today," Corey spoke. "Who are you choosing to win today's challenge and go on a solo date with Seth tonight?"

"Well, first I want to say that all of you ladies did a fantastic job. I am very impressed with your skills," Finn smiled. "But the person that I think did the best and deserves a night on the town with my good friend, Seth, would have to be...Harper."

* * *

"One or two?"

Elle sighed, staring at the dress options that Harper held in front of her.

1- A gorgeous deep blue number that made her eyes sparkle and looked amazing with her hair and alabaster skin.

2 - A strange, warm orange that would be tragic with her coloring. There was no way Harper or anyone in the house would have shoes that would suit it.

If this was Mia or Emily, Elle would have picked that orange nightmare in a hot second with no regrets. But this wasn't one of them. It was sweet and loyal Harper who made living in this house tolerable.

And she was about to go on a date with Seth.

"One," she answered, forcing herself to smile instead of pout childishly. "And you can wear those shoes of mine that you're so obsessed with."

"Are you sure?" Harper asked excitedly. "You told me I'd have to give you a rib to wear those."

"I'm feeling generous," she shrugged.

That was an outright lie. She was feeling the opposite of generous. She felt stingy and jealous. She wanted to be happy for Harper, she truly did, but she also wanted to be at dinner with Seth, even if it meant she had to see Poppy and her ridiculously smug face. It was so easy to feel like she and Seth were in their own little world when she was winning every challenge. She'd been on every date except the one she intentionally skipped. She'd _always_ had his attention and now she found herself dreading the idea of sharing him; even with her favorite person in the house. She wanted to go curl up in bed until it was over but that wasn't fair. Harper had cheered her on at every turn and now she was going to give her friend that same treatment, no matter how shitty it felt.

Harper changed into the dress and then put a robe over it while Elle did her hair and makeup.

"I'm so nervous," Harper smoothed her hands over her skirt. "Why am I nervous?"

"Because you're going on a date with a super hot guy?" Elle offered.

"It's not just that," Harper laughed. "I just feel like…if this doesn't go well, I might be goin' home."

"You are not going _anywhere_ ," Elle insisted, putting her hands on the other woman's shoulders firmly. "Seth isn't stupid and a man would have to be to turn you down."

Harper smiled gratefully and took a deep breath, "You're right. I'm a catch, damn it."

"Hell yeah, you are," Elle held her hand out for the robe. Harper handed it over quickly. "Now, when you meet Poppy, compliment her on her hair. She spends 3 hours every 3 weeks at like 800 dollars a pop to get that color and she constantly complains that no one notices. And make sure to pick something on the menu that you want as is. The chef _hates_ special orders. He'll make them but you might get some poor server's head bitten off so just avoid it if you can. The tarte tatin and the apple galettes are the best desserts on the menu. Don't let the server talk you into the macarons. Chef always makes too many so we make a game of trying to get rid of all of them."

"Got it," Harper dutifully nodded.

"And if you scuff my shoes, I _will_ be taking that rib," Elle warned.

"You are the best," Harper laughed, hugging her tightly. "Love you. Don't wait up."

The redhead took a step toward the door before turning around, "Actually please do wait up. I want to tell you and Jules all about it as soon as I get back."

"We'll be here. Don't worry," she laughed. "Get going, weirdo."

Harper rushed off and Elle plopped down on her bed, gazing up at the ceiling and trying her best to forget where she was for a few minutes.

* * *

Daisy tipped the Postmates driver handsomely through her app before slipping her phone back into her pocket, trying to figure out how three people amassed such an expensive food order. She was on house duty with Jim and Amy. It was an incredibly boring part of the job but it was their turn. Fortunately for them, they were the A team, which meant they didn't get crap duty often.

She lugged the heavy bag of food into the production trailer, sighing at Jim and Amy's grim faces.

"What's happening?" Daisy asked.

"Elle is taking a nap," Amy pointed at one monitor. "Jules is watching the Network. Again. Emily and Abigail are shit-talking Harper. Mia's holding court by the pool with the others, talking about all of the fabulous things she does back at home every day."

"It's a sad day when even Mia is putting me to sleep," Jim shook his head.

Daisy agreed. They needed to do something or they were going to turn in a tragic episode. They were halfway through their lunch when Daisy got an idea.

"We need to take them out," she announced, setting down her carton of beef and broccoli.

"Like kill one of them?" Jim smirked. "It's an interesting idea. Elle does like to run around the pool."

"You are a sick man," Amy laughed. "Daisy, what are you talking about?"

"We need to take them out of the house," Daisy clarified.

"We can't," Jim shook his head. "They stay in the house until they win a date. That's kind of the point of this whole thing."

"We keep them in the house to make them stir crazy," Daisy said. "They've gotten past that point and moved on to mundane. We need to bring them back to life. What better way to do that than to let them out into the wild a little bit?"

Jim shook his head, clearly not on board but Amy slowly allowed herself to smile, "It could be fun. Give them a little booze and some new faces to look at. Mia and Elle drunk with an audience could get us the best ratings of the season."

"I agree," Daisy nodded excitedly, pulling out her phone. She had a perfect plan to throw a little gas onto the fire. She just needed to get Jim on board. "Come on. You know what's going on at that date. Harper is being sweet and telling corny jokes. Seth is having fun but not _that much_ fun. If we don't do something, this week's episode will be a snoozefest and you know it, Jim."

Jim sighed, setting down his chopsticks, "Fine. But we need more than just a bar to guarantee sparks fly. I know a location we can use on the fly. We can get them some cameras they can use to post to social media. That'll get them in some trouble."

"Perfect," Daisy smiled. "Leave the rest to me."


	16. The Green Monster

" _ELLE_!"

Elle shrieked when she felt the bed sharply sink beside her. She'd fallen asleep but she had no idea how long she'd been out. She found Jules in the bed beside her, bouncing on her knees, "Get up, get up, get up!"

"Why?" Elle groaned, shielding her eyes with her arm.

"Because you can't sit and pout all night about someone else getting to go on a date for once," Jules moved her arm, straddling her legs. "And don't claim that's not what you're doing because it clearly is."

Elle glared at the New Yorker, annoyed at being figured out so easily.

"I've told you like a hundred times, you don't scare me," Jules laughed. "Now get up, grumpy cat. Daisy wants us to film talking heads and then she has some kind of a surprise."

Elle allowed herself to be dragged into the Glam Room to throw on a little makeup before they went downstairs and filmed their talking heads together. Elle loved filming with Jules. The other woman's commentary on their experience was enough to make her stomach hurt from laughter.

When they were finished they headed into the kitchen, just in time to find the rest of the girls being gathered around the island by Daisy and Amy.

"So what's the big surprise?" Abigail questioned.

"Is Kentucky not coming back from the date?" Mia smirked. "I could see her sending Seth running for the hills."

"Watch yourself," Elle glared at the arrogant blonde.

"Ladies, ladies," Amy waved her hands. "We know it has been tense and frustrating for all of you being cooped up in this house."

"Oh no, it's been a breeze being accused of stealing by one of Mia's mindless minions," Jules crossed her arms.

"Okay, you are _not_ going to call me mindless," Abigail whirled on her.

"You don't mind the minion part?" Elle stared.

" _So_ , we have a treat for you," Daisy spoke loudly, drawing all of their attention. "You're going out tonight."

"Out?" Jules stared. "Like out of this house? We get to be around people that don't work on this show?"

"Please don't be messing with us," Emily clasped her hands together. "I will freak out if this is some terrible joke."

"No joke," Amy laughed. "You all have 20 minutes to get changed and we're heading to a local bar."

"What's the catch?" Elle asked incredulously, crossing her arms.

"No catch," Daisy put her hands up. "The cameras _will_ be with you to document the outing but there's no catch. Amy and I thought you all deserved to blow off a little steam. Drinks are on us."

Each and every woman was over the moon at the news. Abigail called Daisy and Amy angels while Mia actually said her first ever genuine 'thank you'. Elle was only sad that Harper wouldn't be with them.

* * *

Seth was getting antsy as he waited at the table. They were getting a late start because of an issue with lighting. He was starving and being in the heat all day filming had given him a bit of a headache. He was looking forward to spending some time with Harper. She was always fun to be around and undeniably genuine. He had no questions about her motives. He suggested that they just eat dinner while waiting for the lighting to be figured out but the producers insisted that wasn't possible. They had to have every moment of their interaction on camera.

One of the producers tapped him to let him know that she was finally walking up and he straightened up in his chair, smoothing down the front of his crisp gray dress shirt. He wore a black suit for the dinner, expertly selected by Sasha via FaceTime. She was mad at him for refusing to tell her who won the date but she still insisted on helping pick his outfit. He would always be grateful for her particular brand of friendship.

He smiled when he spotted Harper. She looked gorgeous in a blue dress with her hair cascading over her shoulder in soft, copper curls. She gave him the same excited smile she always did when she saw him along with a goofy wave.

"You look amazing," he stood, offering a quick hug.

"So do you," she smiled as he pulled out her chair. She looked around with wide eyes, "This place is _beautiful_. I feel like I just walked into a movie set."

"It is pretty great," he agreed. The restaurant was decadently decorated in dark shades with dramatic black chandeliers and candles and flowers in deep shades of red and purple. He read up on the concept on the way there and they definitely got their point across with the décor. The wait staff all work dark clothes and when a server walked by in a short black dress, Seth's mind drifted, imagining how the dress would fall over Elle's perfect curves; the way her long smooth legs would stretch from under the soft fabric.

"Seth?"

"Hm?" he snapped out of it, focusing his attention on the woman in front of him.

"You okay?" Harper questioned. "You looked a million miles away."

"Sorry, I was just trying to remember if I actually like any French food," he joked. "I'm here with you, I promise."

"Don't worry," she laughed. "Elle told me all the ins and outs so I'll walk you through it."

"I'm confident enough in my masculinity to let you order for me," he laughed, breezing past the mention of Elle. He owed it to Harper to try and focus on their date and he couldn't do that if he was thinking about someone else.

* * *

"Two shots of your best whiskey please."

"Whiskey?" Elle stared over at Jules. They'd only been at the bar for five minutes. It was a cute place, very rustic chic, Americana aesthetic with farmhouse wood paneled walls and gorgeous mercury glass pendant lights.

"Make it four," Jules grinned at the handsome bartender in a dark denim shirt.

"Maybe we should pace ourselves," Elle laughed, holding up 2 fingers at the bartender. He gave her a quick nod as he started pouring. "We get too lit on this field trip, they won't let us have another one."

"You do have a point there," Jules nodded.

"I do that sometimes," she smirked as they clinked the mason jar shaped shot glasses together and tossed them back.

Elle bounced on the balls of her feet, wincing as the liquor seared down her throat.

Jules laughed, wrapping her arm around her shoulders and squeezing her tightly, "I want to thank you."

"For what?" Elle laughed. "I'm not paying for this."

"For keeping me from losing it today," Jules rested her temple against Elle's. "Seriously, when Abigail came at me like that, I saw red and you're the only thing that kept that from going left."

"I had to," Elle smiled, hugging her friend back. "Do you know how much this house would suck without your crazy ass?"

"Even though I wake you up to work out?" Jules smirked.

"I could do without that part," Elle teased, dodging a slap.

"No hitting, ladies," Daisy approached them with a friendly smile.

"Have a drink with us, D," Elle grinned, waving over the bartender.

"I am still on the clock," Daisy shook her head. "But I have an even better drinking buddy for you."

Elle raised a suspicious brow, wondering why Daisy suddenly looked like a soap opera villain. She was practically rubbing her hands together and cackling. It quickly occurred to her that it was probably Seth. He'd been on the date with Harper for a while and she would love to see his face again before the night was through.

"There he is now," Daisy grinned, pointing toward the door.

Elle grinned like an idiot, waiting to see Seth's brown eyes. Instead, she found herself looking at the baby blues of Finn Balor.

Jules gripped Elle's arm, gasping.

"You have got to calm down," she counseled her friend.

"How is it possible that he looks even better now?"

Objectively, Elle couldn't disagree. Finn was almost eerily handsome. The cameramen and most of the girls flocked to him like moths to a flame but she hung back, unable to dismiss the disappointment of knowing that the man she wanted was still on a date with her friend.

"Aww, grumpy cat, don't be sad," Jules teased, squeezing Elle's cheek. "Come on. You look like you need more whiskey."

20 minutes, 2 shots, and a delicious and deceptively strong peach, herb, and whiskey cocktail later, Elle's mood had significantly improved. She and Jules migrated to a table with Kai and Kayla.

Emily, Mia, and Abigail were firmly planted with Finn and the cameras, making sure they got every bit of attention they could. It was karaoke night at the bar they'd landed at and the local talent was a real mixed bag. There were two heavily inebriated guys on the stage currently singing Camila Cabello's Havana. One of them started erratically swiveling his hips and Elle cackled loudly. Another laugh caught her ear and she turned, smiling at Finn. He waved at her and she offered a friendly wave in return. She was a little frustrated with him for orchestrating the current source of her pouting but she felt bad for him, surrounded by harpies like that. She nodded at the empty chair at their table, offering him an out. He gave her a grateful smile before excusing himself and walking over to join them.

"Top o' the mornin' to ya," Jules shouted, holding up a shot.

Finn chuckled as he took the seat beside Elle.

"Well now I feel less bad for the embarrassing thing _I_ said to you," Elle smirked.

"I don't know," Finn teased. "That was pretty bad. You brought up a past trauma."

"Not as bad as Warwick Davis over here," Elle jerked her thumb at the New Yorker.

Jules gave her a confused frown.

"Have you never seen Leprechaun?" Elle stared. "God damn it, Jules."

"I don't spend all my time watching movies," Jules shrugged. "What do you want from me?"

Jules and Kayla decided to participate in karaoke and giggled their way over to the sign up sheet.

Elle rolled her eyes, turning her attention to Finn, "I have a bone to pick with you, Mr. Balor."

"Me? What ever could I have done?" Finn grinned innocently.

"You helped me build that boat and then you didn't even pick me," she explained.

"I thought Harper had the best story," Finn shrugged.

"Harper is adorable, I get that," she said. "But I didn't even come in second. I can understand giving Jules a low score. Hers was..."

"It was kind of like a big...mushroom," Finn seemed to be searching for the most delicate way to describe it.

"It looked like a giant Lego dick," she shrugged, deciding blunt was the way to go.

He chuckled, nodding his agreement, "I do feel a little guilty for not picking you. You are kind of my favorite."

"Kind of?" she laughed.

"What? I told you, we all watch the show," he shrugged. "There is one good thing about you not being on the date."

"And what is that?"

"You get to have a shot of whiskey with me," he winked, tapping the table before pulling her with him. They took up new seats at the bar and he ordered two shots for each of them. She admired how smoothly he took them. She cringed each time and he enjoyed poking fun at her.

"I have a question for you," he announced. She waited, wondering what he could possibly want to know. "What is Elle short for?"

"Eleanor," she made a face as she answered. She felt awkward even saying it. She couldn't even do it without using a weird voice. No one called her that except her grandmother. "I have two older sisters and when I was born, they had a hard time saying it so everyone just started calling me Elle. Or Ellie, which I absolutely hate."

"So you don't like Ellie or Eleanor?"

She shook her head, "Nope. Neither one feels right."

"How about Len?" he asked, after a thoughtful look.

She considered it for a moment before smiling, "That's a new one. What's wrong with Elle?"

"Nothing at all," he smiled. "I just like to be different."

She shrugged, "I like it. You can call me Len but don't call me Lennie, that gives me Of Mice and Men vibes."

"Well now that's obviously what I have to call you," he laughed.

"I set myself up for that, didn't I?"

"You _absolutely_ did."

"There's a joke in there about me squeezing your rabbit too hard but I'm going to refrain from saying it," she smirked and got a hearty laugh out of Finn.

They ordered drinks and she convinced him to try a sip of her Peaches & Herb as they watched the karaoke and laughed their heads off. Somehow, he even convinced her to sign up. Little did he know, she signed him up as well. That would be a fun surprise. She giggled, her cheeks warmed by the whiskey. Finn was a riot. She felt at ease like she was hanging out with a friend she'd known forever.

"I have another question."

"You really like announcing when you have a question," Elle pointed, feeling the booze beginning to get to her head.

"Are you really the troublemaker you look like on TV or do the producers make you act that way?"

"Why would you assume it's the producers?" she questioned, curious about his opinion of her.

"Because you seem nice," he answered honestly. "Not that you don't seem nice on TV. You do, sometimes. You're just a lot nicer than I expected."

"I don't know how many people would describe me as nice," she laughed.

"That must mean that I bring out the best in you," he teased.

She laughed again, playfully elbowing him in the side, "Just remember this when you're telling Seth about your night out with us girls."

"I will," he assured her. "Though I'm pretty sure he already knows you're a good girl."

"Let's hope so," she finished her drink.

"Alright, next up for karaoke, it looks like we have a duo," the karaoke host looked at his clipboard. Elle perked up.

"Next up on stage, ladies and gentlemen, we have the vocal stylings of _Len_ and _Finn_!"

* * *

Seth was stuffed after an extremely rich dinner and the dessert that Harper insisted they order. Elle may not have loved the place she worked but their food was amazing. Harper had excused herself to touch up her makeup and he had a moment to himself without cameras pointed in his face. He took the opportunity to take a deep breath and reflect on the dinner. As expected, he had fun with Harper. She told him stories about her life back home and offered a good natured laugh when he teased her about her accent. They talked about their jobs and their hobbies. Everything about Harper was just perfectly…good. She had a stable job, good head on her shoulders. She loved her family and she could take a joke. He should have been thrilled to be there with her and yet he couldn't stop his brain from conjuring up images of Elle. And the moment he was able to stop thinking about her, Harper would say her name and there she was again, taking up residence in his head with those gorgeous brown eyes and that sly, teasing smile.

His phone had been buzzing nonstop and he pulled it out to distract himself. He had been tagged repeatedly by the show's instagram account and also Mia's personal account. Apparently the producers had taken the girls to someplace called The Red Crow. There were pictures of them holding up drinks and standing up on a stage. Mia had posted a video with the caption _And I'M the one they love to hate? #interesting #herefortherightreasons_. Frowning, he played the clip and found Elle and Finn singing along to George Michael's 'Faith'. Finn couldn't seem to get through two words without laughing. Elle danced around in jeans and a crop top. Her voice was surprisingly great. She was able to keep with the song much better than Finn as she swayed her hips and spun around but when she turned to Finn, she cracked up and the video ended. Finn also posted a video of the two of them.

 _Helping Seth find love is hard work #TeamElle_.

After that, there was a picture of him and Elle doing his ridiculous Finn Freeze

 _Newest member of the Balor Club? #FinnFreeze #TeamElle_

So while Seth was failing spectacularly at keeping her off his mind, she was jumping around on a stage, giggling like a schoolgirl at Finn Balor.

Harper picked a perfect time to make her way back to the table. He silenced his phone, slipping it back into his pocket.

Two could play that game.

* * *

Elle glared at the coffee cups in front of her, making sure she was completely focused on them before she started pouring. She was half drunk but had somehow ended up the soberest person in the house and she was trying her best to get a _very_ drunk Kayla from about a 97 to a 5. Half of the house was asleep. Jules was talking to Kai, coming up with adorable little Irish names to give the children she and Finn would have despite her barely speaking 10 words to him at The Red Crow.

She was thoroughly grateful to Daisy for getting them all out of the house and Finn for being such a good time but a bunch of rowdy, pent up women at a whiskey bar had been a recipe for disaster. They were lucky Kayla was the only one who seemed to be on the verge of a blackout. Even Abigail had helped Elle basically carry her to the car.

Elle doled out coffee to the people who'd asked and got Kayla to drink some after threatening her life to get her to drink some water. She was in the middle of wrestling the young brunette up the stairs when the cameramen started heading toward the front door.

"Seth!" Kayla flailed her arms before twisting and juking Elle like a god damn professional running back. Kayla was down the stairs in a flash and Elle caught her around the waist just before she went sliding into the door.

The bell rang, which was odd since they always knew when someone was coming. Half of her hoped it was Finn surprising them again so he could see Mia in her ridiculous feather duster pajamas. She bet he'd get a kick out of it.

"Did you invite someone over?" Jules joked, sweeping past Elle and Kayla to open the door. When she did, they saw that Kayla was right. Seth was indeed on the other side

With his lips attached to Harper.

* * *

Seth pulled away from the kiss, smiling down at Harper. She was blushing furiously and shyly tucked her head. He'd _accidentally_ brushed the doorbell which led to half of the house and several cameras catching them outside the front door. Jules was holding the door open looking completely dumbfounded while Kai and Mia stood behind her with varying levels exuding varying levels of envy.

Then there was Elle.

She had her arms around a very pale and sweaty looking Kayla. Her mouth was slightly agape eyes round and wide. She tilted her head a fraction, her eyebrows drawing together as she studied him. He expected her to be angry but this was something different. Mia and Kai, they were angry. The look Elle gave him was one of sheer disgust and it was gone in the blink of an eye. She shook her head, turning her attention to Kayla who suddenly twisted away from her and took off running toward Seth. Harper yelped and Elle and Jules caught her, spinning her away from the returning couple just in time for her to throw up over the side of the stairs.

"Oh my God, what happened to her?" Harper quickly jumped to help.

"Whiskey and karaoke," Elle answered, smoothing the poor girl's hair back. Harper sweetly patted Kayla's shoulder.

"We got her, don't worry," Elle assured her, nodding in Seth's direction. "Finish up your date. I can handle this."

Elle's eyes didn't dare fall on Seth again. It was like he'd become invisible all of a sudden. Once Kayla was portable, they helped her inside as she mumbled incoherently.

"Well that's a heck of a way to end the night," Harper laughed, still looking over her shoulder. She turned back to Seth and when he saw her happy smile, guilt hit him like a ton of bricks.

"Thank you for everything. I had a great time," she grinned.

"So did I," Seth agreed. "We'll have to do it again some time."

"I look forward to it," she winked. She lifted onto the balls of her feet and he wasn't sure what direction her lips would go until they landed softly on his cheek. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow," he nodded. She turned and walked into the house, immediately swarmed by the other girls. Seth slid his hands into his pockets, feeling like he got punched in the gut. He wasn't sure what made him feel like more of a dick: the fact that he kissed Harper knowing that Elle would see or the fact that he didn't feel anything for such a lovely girl.

* * *

Elle sat cross legged on the vanity in the Glam Room, absolutely fuming. She wanted to punch Seth in his stupid, perfect face. She was careful to keep her her true emotions far away from her face. Harper was sitting beside her, taking off her makeup and detailing every single second of her date. She struggled to focus on her friend's words, asking questions, ooh'ing and ah'ing when it was appropriate. All of the acting classes were paying off.

She was furious with Seth for the stunt he pulled. She knew exactly what he'd done. There was no way he just 'accidentally' hit the doorbell. She was a manipulative teenage girl once, she knew all the tricks. He wanted her to see and if she'd needed any further confirmation, she got it when he looked right at her, clearly waiting for her to react. Thank heavens for Kayla and her weak ass stomach. Trying to make her jealous wasn't a crime. She couldn't say she wouldn't consider it in his position but using Harper to do it? _That_ was what she couldn't abide.

"He's really amazing Elle," Harper beamed. "I feel like I'm walking on a cloud."

"You two looked cute together," Elle smiled. "You know, until Kayla almost puked on you."

"That part was a lot," Harper laughed, tossing out her makeup wipe. "I'm gonna wash the hairspray out before I go to bed. Thank you for helping me get ready and waiting up for me. I love you."

"Oh don't get all mushy on me," Elle rolled her eyes. "I stayed up because when I tried to go to sleep, drunk women started jumping in my bed."

"You stayed up for me and you know it," Harper hugged her. "And I know you love me too. You don't have to say it."

"Go take your shower, roomie," Elle smiled. "I'm gonna go get some tea before I go to bed."

"Bring some up for me?"

"Of course," Elle agreed, strolling out of the room. When she reached the stairs, she sped down and then stormed into the kitchen, knowing Daisy could usually be found there toward the end of the night. She was there, as expected, packing up some equipment.

"Hey," Daisy smiled. "How's Kayla?"

"She's fine, sleeping," Elle's words came out clipped and cold. "Where is Seth?"

"Seth is done for the night," Daisy explained. "You know he's finished filming once the date is over."

"I also know that he does talking heads here sometimes after dates," Elle crossed her arms. "And I am willing to bet that after how ridiculous this night has been, he's still here somewhere."

"Even if he is, he's done filming with you ladies," Daisy said. "Whatever you need to say to him, you can say when the cameras are up tomorrow."

"I'm not waiting until tomorrow," Elle shook her head. "I need to talk to Seth. Right now."

Daisy opened her mouth and when Elle sensed protest, she cut her off, "Daisy, you get Seth right now or I swear I will set off the Ethan bomb and get myself sent right out of this house. Tonight."

She looked the other woman right in the eye, making sure it was clear that she meant business. She would wake up that blonde pack of hyenas in a heartbeat.

"Okay, okay," Daisy raised her hands. "Just relax and stop throwing that name around."

Elle fixed a challenging look on her friend and Daisy sighed, "Go out by the pool. I'll send him to meet you but there will be cameras."

She considered arguing but she knew she was already pushing her luck. Cameras or no, she was going to give Seth a piece of her mind. She paced rapidly, hands on her hips, blood coming to a boil as she waited for him.

She heard footsteps behind her and she turned, charging to meet him when she saw him coming.

"You are an asshole," she pointed.

"Why the hell am I an asshole?" he asked, quickly putting his hands up. "Because I did what I'm supposed to do?"

"What you're supposed to do?" she sneered. "So you were _supposed_ to _use_ Harper? The nicest girl in this entire fucking place and you _used_ her to get to me."

He at least had the decency to look a little guilty but his shoulders were squared and he was on the defensive.

"I was _upset_ , Elle," he insisted. "I'm on a date. I'm supposed to be having fun with a pretty girl and all I can think about is what _you're_ doing. Are you having fun? Are you thinking about me? Then I look at my phone and see Balor flirting with my girl. And it looked to me like you were enjoying it."

"We weren't _flirting_ ," she insisted.

"Sure as hell looked like you were to me," he argued.

"And I'm not your girl," she talked right over him. "You're still _dating_ 8 other women in that house. Or have you forgotten?"

"I gave you an out, Elle," he reminded her. "I gave you the chance to back out of this whole situation but you didn't. You and I both know why. You can fight it all you want because you're angry but you want me. You _want_ to be here and I want you. _You_ are the one I want, Elle."

Elle was speechless for a moment. She felt a hundred things at once. She was still angry, livid actually. But Seth's words made her feel like she might float away on a cloud. Why did he have such a hold on her? How could someone she'd only known for a short while make her feelings skyrocket this way?

She turned away from him and found herself looking directly into a camera's lens. She'd actually forgotten they were there. The stupid cameras that were constantly in her face, documenting her every move. This situation just didn't make any sense. Were her feelings even real or was it all just a part of this strange, manipulative world of reality TV? How was she even supposed to figure that out?

"And when all of this is over?" she questioned. "What then?"

"I..." Seth shrugged, shaking his head. "I don't know."

"That's what I'm afraid of," she admitted. "You want me to give up..the way things are back home for something with no guarantees."

She used coded language, just barely remembering not to mention her 'boyfriend'.

"If you gave a shit about the way things were back home, you wouldn't be here," he accused. He was absolutely right. If there was a future for her and Ethan, she wouldn't feel the way she did for Seth. She just wished she could have some assurance that what they were feeling would last once they were faced with real life.

"You've gotta stop pretending you don't want this," Seth stepped closer to her.

She met his eyes, taking a deep breath. She was still angry with him but when she looked at him all she could think about was how miserable she was when Harper left with him that night, how much she wanted to be in her place.

"I'm sorry for kissing Harper," his eyes were filled with sincere remorse. "I shouldn't have used her. She doesn't deserve that and neither do you. I'm sorry."

She crossed her arms, narrowing her eyes, "I'm not apologizing because I didn't do anything wrong."

"Really, Elle?"

" _Yes_ , really," she insisted. "I wasn't _flirting_ with F-"

He grabbed her gesturing hands, tugging her sharply against him and planting his lips on hers. His hands cradled her face, his thumb grazing over her cheek as he coaxed her mouth open, his tongue slipping past her lips. She melted against him and he slipped away, looking into her eyes, "Are you sorry now?"

"No," she shook her head, pulling him back down for a fiery kiss. His hand found the small of her back as he pressed himself against her. His other hand warmed her side, creeping under her shirt. She wasn't wearing a bra and he groaned when his fingers touched the underside of her breast. Desire coarsed through her and she grabbed the collar of his shirt, clamoring to get even closer. The world around them slipped further and further away as they lost themselves in the kiss. His hand tangled in her hair and tugged, exposing her neck. His lips and tongue explored her pulse and if there hadn't been cameras on them, he could have had her clothes off in seconds.

But there were several cameras pointed at them and when she remembered that, she pulled away, panting.

"I can't do this, Seth," she shook her head.

"We don't have to do anything," he spoke, though the fire in his eyes and the bulge in his pants belied his point.

"I don't just mean sex I mean _this_ ," she pointed between them, using every bit of strength in her to take a step back. "You need to send me home."


End file.
